Michael Stewart has reacted to the foul made on Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin that saw St Johnstone receive a red card at Ibrox on Saturday.

Rangers beat St Johnstone 4-0, but it was a game that had a controversial moment in which Kai Fotheringham received his marching orders.

That decision did not change the outcome of the game as the hosts were cruising to victory with a three-goal lead before the incident.

Michael Stewart believes that Dujon Sterling played a role in Kai Fotheringham’s sending off

Having assessed the footage of the incident, Stewart thinks that Dujon Sterling was the one holding Fotheringam’s shirt that resulted in him falling. Due to his fall, his foot was raised, which caused VAR to intervene and subsequently send off the St Johnstone player.

While Stewart admits that it does not look great, he believes that the referee should have been stronger and not brandished a red card. He believes that there was no malice in the challenge.

“So even though it looks, you know, especially when you study it, it doesn’t look great. I think personally there’s enough mitigation in there that you should be able, as a referee, to go: ‘Look guys, no, I’m not getting involved with that’.”

Should Rangers set up differently for the Hearts game?

The Hearts game will pose a different challenge to the Light Blues than the previous one, and Derek McInnes could make changes. He may want to add some solidity to his team, and that could see Tuur Rommens starting at left-back and James Penrice moving into midfield.

It remains to be seen if he decides to bring in Ben Godfrey for Emmanuel Fernandez or if he sticks with the same centre-back pairing. Olwethu Makhanya has been among the standout performers this season, so there is no way he is dropped for such an important match.

Raskin did not pick up an injury from the challenge in the St Johnstone clash, and he appears all set to start for the Gers.