Murty admits Daniel Candeias wasn’t happy being subbed in Rangers win

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Glasgow Rangers moved themselves six points clear of their closest rivals in the Scottish Premiership as the Ibrox side ran out 4-1 winners.

Graeme Murty has told Rangers’ official YouTube channel that Daniel Candeias was not happy to be substituted during Rangers’ win over St Johnstone on Tuesday night, but he wanted to give him a rest as the Gers strolled to the three points.

Rangers have now made it five wins on the bounce with a victory over Tommy Wright’s men. The visitors scored three times in the first-half before Alfredo Morelos added their fourth in the 4-1 win shortly before the hour-mark at McDiarmid Park.

There was then potentially a moment that may have worried the Gers fans slightly however, as Murty replaced Daniel Candeias with Jason Cummings early on in the second-half. But Murty has alleviated any concerns that the supporters may have had about a potential injury to the Portuguese by insisting that he wanted to give him a much-needed rest – even if the player did not agree with his viewpoint.

“I wanted to get Daniel off because he’s done some unbelievable distances in our games, and I thought I’m going to get him off and I’m going to give him a break, and I don’t think he was very happy,” he told Rangers’ YouTube channel.

“He wanted to stay on, which is good for me but we have a strong bench, we’ve got people who can come in and I thought that we have people now that are testing and pushing, but the guys who have the shirt I thought really staked a claim.”

With the Old Firm game just around the corner after the Light Blues face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup at the weekend, it is not surprising that Murty decided to rest the 30-year-old for the final half-hour against the Saints with the game already put to bed.

Candeias is the most prolific provider of assists in the Scottish Premiership this season with eight to his name, so he will unquestionably be a player that Murty will be looking to to make an impact when Celtic travel to Ibrox next month, so keeping him as fresh as possible makes a lot of sense.