Scott Arfield defends high challenge on Rangers teammate Ryan Jack

Follow us on Google Discover

Glasgow Rangers’ bench was incensed by the challenge, but one Ibrox star has defended his opponents.

Scott Arfield has, perhaps surprisingly, somewhat defended the challenge from Alan Power that saw Rangers teammate Ryan Jack take a boot to the face in the Scottish Cup at the weekend, in comments reported by the Evening Times.

In a fairly uninspiring tie between the two Scottish Premiership sides, Rangers were unable to find the back of the net against Kilmarnock – despite being awarded a first-half penalty – and will now face each other at Ibrox in a replay later this month.

One notable incident however, did come when Jack looked to head the ball back into the box after Rangers had taken a free-kick. It was the Gers man who got to the ball first and Power managed to raise his boot into the midfielder’s face. Much to the Gers’s bench’s annoyance, the incident only led to a yellow card.

The Killie ace will argue that he was only looking at the ball and had no intention of catching Jack. And while some Rangers fans will need some convincing that there was no malice involved, Arfield was not particularly critical of the opponent.

“I think he goes for the ball to be fair to him. I think he catches Jacko and gets a yellow card,” he said, as reported by the Evening Times.

“I don’t think he tries to take Jacko’s face off. It’s just an incident where Jacko is brave and puts his head there for the club and the team. It is one of those things.”

Luckily, Jack did not suffer a significant injury and was able to see out the game. But on another occasion, the Rangers star could have quite easily been a lot less fortunate.

And during a week when Scott McKenna and Alfredo Morelos were sent off for raising their boots at one another, it would be no surprise if Power was breathing a sigh of relief when the yellow card was shown.

McKenna and Morelos may have been sent off for an off-the-ball clash, and their intent may have been much more sinister than Power’s, but there was no question which of the three men made the most contact with their opponent.