Andy Halliday has called for referees to give Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos more protection after he was taken off injured following a Ryan Edwards challenge at the weekend.
Worried fans watched in horror as the Colombian slumped to the ground with a stomach-churning gash in his leg after the Dundee United defender caught him on the follow through.
Referee Kevin Clancy has come under fire over the incident with various pundits slamming the decision not to even give a foul, let alone flash a card with Edwards also dodging retrospective action.
And while Halliday doesn't feel the contact was deliberate, he feels a red card should have been shown.
He told the Record Rangers Podcast: "I thought it looked ugly in real time and even uglier in the replay.
"The most alarming thing for me is you take it back three weeks to St Mirren and Ross County.
"Joe Shaughnessy gets sent off for a very, very similar tackle.
"In my opinion it's not as bad because he's running at full pace, he slide tackles and catches Ross Stewart on the shin.
"The boy from Dundee United (Ryan Edwards) does a standing tackle, not moving at pace and catches Alfredo above the knee and one merits a red card and the other doesn't merit a foul.
"So that's as alarming as it gets for me and when we talk about consistency and official's decisions that's got to be shown all over.
"I think St Mirren tried to rescind Shaughnessy's and it didn't get recsinded.
"I'm never going to sit here and call out a professional and hope he gets sent off and banned.
"Only Edwards will know if there is any malice or intent there and I don't think there was but it was a red card.
"For me it's about consistency from referees."
While the tackle is wince-inducing on a slow-motion replay, Halliday points out that in some ways, the x-rated nature of the contact was what saved Morelos.
While the striker was caught above the knee, his former teammate points out that an inch or two lower would have been much more damaging.
He said: "I think Alfredo is lucky. He's luckier the tackle was as high as what it was. If it catches him lower on the knee-cap he has a bigger issue.
"He's caught the muscle and it's just a gash so will just result in stitches. If he catches the knee-cap then you are looking at worse.
"I'm not going to say there was any intent but it was an extremely nasty tackle.
"Going off the back of the manager's comments. I wouldn't necessarily agree with the comments but I do agree that sometimes referees need to take into consideration Alfredo does need protection sometimes.
"On the other hand sometimes he doesn't help himself, clearly. I know if I'm playing Alfredo Morelos and I'm playing on the opposing side I will do what I can to goad him and get a reaction off him because some of his red cards have been petualnce.
"That's where referees need to realise they need to protect him but at the same time Alfredo has to grow and mature which I think, to be fair to him, we have seen. That's something he will need to continue to improve because he's a great player."
