Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Liam Bryce

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard blames Hibs bench for sparking angry touchline rammy

Steven Gerrard has blamed the Hibs bench for sparking a touchline rammy after Ryan Porteous' red-card lunge on Borna Barisic.

The Hibs defender was sent off for a reckless challenge on the Ibrox left-back that sparked angry Easter Road scenes.

Hibs' John Potter and Rangers counterpart Tom Culshaw were then dismissed by referee Nick Walsh.

As Barisic received treatment on the pitch, he was targeted by a bottle thrown from the home end.

Gerrard insists he'll have a word with his own staff for their part in the dugout clash but revealed their anger was sparked by their opponents allegedly defending Porteous' actions.

(SNS Group)

The Rangers boss told BT Sport: "It was just the staff trying to defend a tackle like that. Look, we all understand bad tackles - I've done a few myself, there's no problem with that.

"But you can't defend that. So, obviously our emotions are running high but, I think, when it calms down both benches will maybe have a look at their behaviour.

"I'll certainly be speaking to my staff on that front.

"But we were disappointed with the reaction from them trying to defend because it's a straight red."

Goals from Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo and Jermain Defoe sealed a comfortable three points for Gerrard's side as they reduced the Premiership gap on Celtic to just two points.

(SNS Group)

But the Ibrox gaffer was disappointed events on the pitch were again overshadowed by ugly flashpoints.

In the same fixture last year, James Tavernier was confronted by a fan on the pitch just a week after Celtic's Scott Sinclair had a Buckfast bottle thrown at him at the same venue.

"(It's not what you want to see) at all, I've spoken about that too many times now but it's Hibs ' problem.

"That's for Jack Ross to deal with because if it was Rangers fans I'd be extremely disappointed."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.