Philippe Clement says he will study replays of the incident that saw midfielder Jose Cifuentes red carded against Dundee with the Rangers manager facing further selection problems ahead of a big week for the club.

Tom Lawrence limped off in the first half against Hearts in midweek and has been ruled out until next year. Likewise, Cifuentes did not see out the first half of the 3-1 win over Dundee, although his exit is not another injury misfortune to bemoan. Referee Kevin Clancy was instructed by VAR to review the midfielder’s mistimed, studs-up challenge on Dundee striker Amadou Bakayoko, which saw the player initially only booked. Clancy upgraded the yellow card to a red and has left Clement with another headache.

Rangers overcame the first challenge comfortably enough, managing to hold onto their two-goal advantage in the second half despite being a man down. But next weekend’s Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen is looming into view and the Ibrox side are light in central midfield options, to put it mildly. Ryan Jack is facing a race against time to be fit while Niko Raskin is a long-term injury casualty. Further up the pitch, Danilo has also just been ruled out until the new year.

Rangers' Jose Cifuentes trudges off after his red card against Dundee.

Rangers ended their latest win with Dujon Sterling in central midfield alongside defender Leon King, who was making his first appearance of the season. Clement, who was yellow carded in the second half for persistent protesting, told reporters that he would watch Cifuentes’ tackle again and hold discussions with Ibrox officials before reaching a decision over whether to appeal.

“We will make an assessment in the next couple of days what we need to do with that,” he said. “I’ve not seen the images back. Jose told me he lost the ball and wanted to win it back. He wanted to block the ball but the other guy is a split second faster and tackles through the ball, there’s contact “Jose tries to avoid it, he didn’t go through it, so I want to see things back to have a clear and good opinion so we can make an assessment in the next few days.”

He was more outraged by a fourth goal from Todd Cantwell being ruled out for a foul in the build-up by John Lundstram. Cantwell was replaced at half-time as Clement sought to deal with Dundee’s numerical advantage. It was satisfying for the manager to see that this side coped easily enough. Indeed, they came closest to scoring through Leon Balogun and also Sterling, who hit the post.

“It was 100 per cent tactical,” he said, with reference to Cantwell’s withdrawal. “It’s a pity for Todd – he is in a good way and was working hard in the first half. The last game he was really good so it’s a pity to take him off but at that moment you have to make decisions for the team and not one player. The good thing is he will be fresh for Thursday (v Real Betis).”

Dundee manager Tony Doherty felt his side could have done more in the second half. But his main complaint was the penalty allowing Rangers to take the lead after 25 minutes, with the visitors scoring first through Bakayoko on five minutes. Defender Aaron Donnelly was penalised for pulling Abdallah Sima’s jersey in the box following a VAR review. “The image presented to Kevin Clancy favours the penalty being given but the reality is there is bustling in the box, Sima has hold of Aaron Donnelly’s shirt and Kevin Clancy deemed that to be OK,” he said. He otherwise praised the referee's handling of the game.

Rangers mull over Jose Cifuentes appeal but further ref call infuriates Philippe Clement as Dundee cry foul over key penalty