Rangers reaction: Morelos running out of road as kicked chair sums it up; Dundee starlet's contract race; ‘don’t mention the (Liverpool) score!’

Rangers racked up their fifth successive domestic win amid their Champions League troubles to reach the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup, where they will meet Aberdeen at Hampden.

Only an early goal from Steven Davis separated the teams and it proved a slog for the Ibrox men against their opponents from the Championship. Dundee’s lack of threat up front meant they were unable to punish Rangers for their lethargy.

What’s it all about, Alfie?

All eyes were on Alfredo Morelos when his number came up and he was one of three Rangers players substituted after 73 minutes. It was obvious he wasn’t going to be happy. Off he trudged to be replaced by Kemar Roofe, whose return to full fitness can’t come quickly enough for Rangers fans.

Rangers' Alfredo Morelos is subbed off against Dundee (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

That’s particularly true given the current funk afflicting Morelos. There was no handshake with manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst when he came off. And while he didn’t storm down the tunnel, which had looked possible, he did boot over a chair in the home dugout. To be fair to him, it seemed more out of disgust at his own performance than annoyance with anyone else.

Morelos was only one of several home players who failed to hit the heights against Dundee. But his situation will always arouse most interest. He trudged off after 74 minutes after failing to add to his two goals for the season. Van Bronckhorst had clearly played him in the expectation that he might find his touch against the Championship side. However, aside from one chance which was blocked by ‘keeper Adam Legzdins, the Colombian looked exactly what he currently is: a somewhat overweight footballer suffering from too little big-match action.

The trouble is, he’s now running out of road at Rangers. And perhaps he’s also running out of goodwill. Few fans could argue if he’s left out of the starting XI on Saturday against Livingston. He’s free to talk to other clubs in January. There’s been talk of a new contract at Ibrox but nothing that’s happened in the last few weeks suggests these are talks that anyone fiercely desires. Perhaps it’s now best for both parties to move on.

Josh Mulligan excels on grand stage – what next?

Dundee manager Gary Bowyer revealed that he replaced Josh Mulligan after 67 minutes because the tenacious teenager was a foul away from being red carded. But the 19-year-old – he turns 20 next month – had already done enough to catch the eye with a lung-busting, positive performance that will place further pressure on the Dens Park hierarchy to extend his contract as quickly as possible.

As it stands, the Scotland Under-21 international attacking midfielder can talk to other interested clubs as soon as January. He might well have scored at Ibrox. He missed a header in the opening moments and went close with a shot at the end of the first half. “He took it to them a little bit,” said Bowyer afterwards. “He has two chances in the first half, but he was competing as well. I had to remove him because I think he was one foul away from being sent off. We didn’t need that.”

Mulligan will be central to Dundee’s hopes of coming straight back up. But as for whether he sticks around longer, it’s in the hands of the Dundee board. They can ill afford another Glen Kamara situation, when the highly-rated midfielder signed for Rangers for a very modest sum after his contract was allowed to run down. Mulligan really does look a bit special. It would be criminal of the Dens Park club to lose him at this stage of his development.

Record-equalling defeat? Let’s just move on shall we...

It was a case of ‘don’t mention the Liverpool score’ in the always very readable Ibrox match programme for the game against Dundee. Publishing deadlines might be to blame although the results page does record it. No one expected a tribute issue to the historic result – the record-equal heaviest defeat in Rangers’ history. But neither Giovanni van Bronckhorst or captain James Tavernier addressed it in their columns. Both seemed keener to mention in detail the win over Queen of the South in the previous round, which was as long ago as August.