MARK Warburton, the Rangers manager, last night admitted Lee Wallace, his captain and left back, is "touch and go" for the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Celtic at Ibrox on Saturday.
Wallace sat out the 1-1 draw with St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in Perth last night due to the hamstring injury he picked up against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Christmas Eve
Warburton, who also saw his centre half Clint Hill limp off with a dead leg in the second half, admitted he was a major doubt for the meeting with the league leaders.
“Lee was out on the training pitch today, doing light work," he said. "He’s got a tight hamstring. It will be touch and go, no doubt about that. Fingers crossed, because he’s our skipper and a very influential player. He has been outstanding.
“But I wouldn’t risk him. I wouldn’t risk anyone. The health and welfare of the players is always paramount. Someone asked me if I could risk him because we have a three week break after Saturday, but absolutely not.
“Clint was an impact injury tonight, more of a dead leg type. He is a quick healer, so touch wood we can get him ready. Lee Hodson came on tonight and we have enough quality in reserve if required."
Meanwhile, Steven Anderson, the St. Johnstone captain, insisted he had been punched by Rob Kiernan, the Rangers centre half, before half-time in an incident which was missed by referee Crawford Allan.
The defender faces retrospective punishment as a result of the incident, which was captured by the BT Sport cameras, if Tony McGlennan, the SFA compliance officer, decides to issue him with a notice of complaint.
Anderson certainly feels his rival, who is in no danger of missing the Old Firm match on Saturday, deserves to have action taken against him.
"It was a corner and he caught me in the ribs," he said. "Brian Easton saw it as well. It was a clear punch on me.
"If that's the way he wants to play then it's up to him, but he is going to get done for it. You can't do that in football games. I'm not bothered, but if it gets highlighted then he deserves it.
"There was nothing that happened before it. I was marking him at a corner and there was a bit of argy bargy - then he punched me.
"The referee said he did not see it and you can understand it because there was a lot going on in the box. The linesman has probably not seen it either.
"I didn't shake hands with Kiernan after the game, but only because I was too busy shaking other people's hands and clapping the crowd.
Warburton revealed he hadn't seen the incident, but praised Kiernan for his performance after he had gifted St. Johnstone their equaliser with a slack passback.
“I haven’t seen it (the punch)," he said. "I’ll watch it again tonight when I get home.
“It (the passback) was a mistake. We are all human. Show me someone who doesn’t make mistakes.
"How did Rob Kiernan respond to the mistake? Did he shy away from the ball or from a tackle? No, he didn’t. So all credit to Rob. As long as he learns from his mistakes, as we we all must do, I’ve got no problem with that."
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