Celtic striker has been admonished by Mark Hateley following an incident against Dundee United
Mark Hateley has criticised Odsonne Edouard and insisted the Celtic striker should be suspended for Saturday’s derby.
Edouard’s challenge on Peter Pawlett in Wednesday’s 3-0 win for the champions against Dundee United went unpunished, but many on social media have been calling for retrospective action to be taken against the 22-year-old.
Action cannot be taken until next week due to offices being closed, but Rangers legend Hateley believes Edouard is lucky to still be in contention the trip to Ibrox.
Hateley compared the Edouard incident to Alfredo Morelos’ recent two-match ban, which was handed out retrospectively for an apparent elbow on United’s Mark Connolly.
As quoted by Record Sport, Hateley said: “It’s a lunge, it’s an out-of-control tackle, it’s over the top of the ball and there’s contact.
“Willie Collum is standing about 10 feet away looking straight at it.
“It’s a dangerous challenge and it’s a red card offence. So, he should be out of the Old Firm game.
“And he would be a huge miss for them in what is such an important game. He’s got that X-factor that any team would like to have.
“You look at Alfredo Morelos’ challenge in the Dundee United game when he used his arm.
“I said straight away in our post-match reaction on Ten10 podcasts that it was a red card and he should have gone. He was subsequently offered a two-match ban and the club accepted it.
“This is what should happen with Edouard. I fully expect the same scenario to unfold.
“But it seems that the SFA’s fast track process isn’t fast enough – although Celtic would probably appeal it anyway.”
Edouard scored Celtic’s third against United to seal a fourth successive victory for Neil Lennon’s men, following goals from Ismaila Soro and David Turnbull.
The champions remain 16 points behind Rangers going into Saturday’s game, however, after Steven Gerrard’s side won 2-0 against St Mirren in Paisley.
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