Gary McAllister has warned Alfredo Morelos he has to clean up his act after talking himself into the book again - and out of the crucial return leg in Braga.
The Colombian, dogged by disciplinary issues during his Ibrox career, was shown a yellow card for backchat to Spanish referee Xavier Estrada Fernandez.
Morelos also missed the first three games of this year through suspension and Rangers assistant boss McAllister insists they will never give up trying to help him.
The striker also passed up golden chances in the 3-2 win over Braga and will sit out the match in the Municipal Stadium with Borna Barisic also a huge doubt after suffering a blow to his kidneys which definitely rules him out of tomorrow’s trip to St Johnstone.
But on Morelos, McAllister said: “These moments have got to go. He has got to rid them from his game. It has happened before, it is a repeat offence.
“We will keep at him and keep nipping his ear. It is something we are continually working with him on and it is frustrating for us as well.
“But we have got to keep in his ear and keep trying to better this fella’s discipline record and not to react. He does acknowledge it and he will put his hand up and say ‘I want to get better, I want to get better’.
“We have all spoken to him. The lads have spoken to him, all the management staff have got to keep at Alfredo. On the flip side of that, he is in front of the goal again and he is still in there getting chances, still in there creating problems. We have got to stay with him.”
Team-mate Scott Arfield added: “He has got better with his discipline since last season but he is going to be a huge loss again for something so minimal.
“I have seen so many players do that. There were a couple of players on Thursday who did the same thing as Alfredo when he shouted at the referee, everyone does it.
“It is what it is, he has got a yellow card and misses the game. We will miss him and he is a huge loss for us but I have seen many players do exactly what he did and not been carded.
“We do speak to him in terms of letting him know how important he is to us but as players we can only take it so far, it’s the manager’s domain to sort that out.
“Everyone writes headlines about Alfredo because of his goals but he is more than that to us. When you lift one over the defenders you know he is going to chase a lost cause, it gets us up the pitch when we need it. So he is more than just goals to us.”
Ianis Hagi also underlined his importance to the team with his brace and Arfield admitted he reminds him of his former Falkirk team-mate Russell Latapy who was nicknamed the Little Magician.
Arfield said: “I always go back to Russell Latapy. He was about 20 years older than Hagi when I played with him. And he smoked 40 fags more than Hagi!
“He didn’t have much pace, like Hagi. He wasn’t electric in terms of pace, but he drops the shoulder and makes things happen. Those are the players I love.”
Arfield hopes the midweek win can help reignite their season but admitted they face a completely different test when they head to Perth tomorrow.
He said: “The challenge is different but the demand is the same – to win the game. The Braga win could be a pivotal moment in terms of trying to turn the season around.
“A lot has been made of the form since the winter break but moments like that on big nights has to kickstart us. But it’s two completely different games between Europe and domestic fixtures.
“It’s different to replicate that sort of performance in terms of going after teams. However, in terms of the big moments we need to take some momentum from that.”
