Motherwell defender Dan Casey should have been sent off during the Steelmen’s 2-1 win over Rangers, according to former referee Dermot Gallagher, who labelled the challenge “not a nice tackle”.

The Irishman, who went on to score the winner as Motherwell stunned the Premiership league leaders at Ibrox, caused a stir when he put in a strong challenge on young Rangers winger Ross McCausland during the first half. The force of the challenge resulted in McCausland leaving the pitch injured and former referee Gallagher, when asked to give his views on Sky Sports’ ref watch, believes Casey should have been dismissed.

Asked why Casey’s challenge was not deemed worthy of a red card, Gallagher said: “I don’t know. I think it is a red card, I think it is a really, really bad tackle. The pace he goes in, everything about it … the lad had to leave the pitch and went home on crutches, I’m led to believe. Not a nice tackle.”

Rangers' Ross McCausland (L) is down injured after a tackle from Motherwell's Dan Casey (R).

At the time, Rangers manager Philippe Clement seethed at the tackle. “Ross is bad of course, he is kicked off the pitch,” the Belgian said on Saturday. “Just kicked off the pitch. There was no foul. No yellow card. No red card. If I see the last couple of months the way we get red cards, and I see this action... I don't understand to be honest. There's too much intensity. It's the first half and you need to take a player off because he cannot walk anymore after a contact then you need to realise something really bad happened there. But clearly not.”

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