RANGERS forward Greg Stewart has backed his Ibrox team mate Alfredo Morelos to learn from his latest ordering off on Sunday and be far more disciplined when he returns to first team action.
Morelos, who was red carded five times last season, has been widely praised, including by his manager Steven Gerrard, for his improved conduct during the first half of the 2019/20 campaign.
But he received a second yellow card from referee Don Robertson at Fir Park on Sunday for gesturing at Motherwell fans after scoring a second-half goal in the Ladbrokes Premiership game.
READ MORE: Steven Gerrard: Alfredo Morelos dismissal a 'setback' but ref was desperate to send someone off
Stewart is confident the 23-year-old Colombian, who was responding to the abuse he had received from a section of the home support and who was pelted with missiles, will mature further as a result of the incident.
“Nowadays it is so difficult,” he said. When you score a goal your emotions are everywhere. It is an unbelievable feeling.
“When you get a bit of stick during the game and then you score and give a little bit back, it is the player who gets punished.
“But look, he shouldn’t have done what he did. That’s it. He was already on a yellow card, which didn’t help. His discipline is a lot better than last season. He will learn from it and that’s all he can do.”
Stewart added: “He plays on the edge and he can be at his best when he is on the edge. When he tips over the edge, the team gets punished for it. But this season he has been unbelievable – even that side of him as well.
“He will be disappointed with Sunday but he will learn from it again. He is still young. He was obviously disappointed after the game because he didn’t mean to get sent off or do what he did. It’s just the emotions of the game.
“He is just himself. He works hard every day, which is probably the side of him that people don’t see. He is a great guy as well. He is good for us.”
Looking ahead to the Premiership game against Hibernian at Easter Road on Friday - a game that Rangers will have to play without Morelos as a result of his red card at Fir Park - Stewart predicted a difficult encounter.
READ MORE: Alison McConnell: Neither Morelos nor Motherwell supporters are innocent in Fir Park fracas
Stewart has faced Jack Ross’s teams in the past and expects the home side - who have won four and drawn one of the six games they have played since their new head coach was appointed next month - to come at the visitors from kick-off.
He knows that he and his team mates will need to be at their very best despite the absence of their leading scorer when they square up to the former St Mirren and Sunderland manager’s men.
“Jack has come in and got them points on the board,” he said. “There will be a bit of confidence there, especially with them being at home.
“They will come out and try and attack because that is the way he (Ross) likes his teams to play. It will be a good game and we are looking forward to it.”
“You obviously want your best players out there doing what they do best and Alfredo obviously won’t be able to do that on Friday night.
“But the squad is big enough to fall back on. We can only go and prove ourselves if we get a chance. We have to be able to deal with the loss of key players if we want to win silverware this season.”
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