Clement is’surprised’ by the rejection of Cifuentes Rangers’ red card appeal.

Philippe Clement revealed that he was surprised when Jose Cifuntes’ red card against Dundee was upheld following a Rangers appeal.

The midfielder was sent off in the win at Ibrox after a VAR review upgraded his yellow card to red.

Cifuentes’ dismissal for a challenge on Amadou Bakayoko means he will miss the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen on Sunday.

He is, however, available to play against Real Betis in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Clement called the red card “strange” and questioned the severity of the punishment for his player.

When asked if he was surprised by the upheld red card decision, he replied, “Clearly. I think it surprised everybody, maybe even the players of Dundee.

“If you look at back the image, and it’s sometimes frustrating as a manger, but if the referee gives a yellow card and after it becomes a red card then the next day you watch Match of the Day and see many more bad tackles that are yellow card. So that was strange.

“Then you see back the footage after the game where Jose has contact but because the player slides to meet him when he goes for the ball, if you look at the image there are five or six players of Dundee around him and there’s nobody – but nobody – reacts to the referee. Nothing. They just continue to attack because it was a duel.

“Yes, there was contact but not a big foul. So it’s disappointing to lose a player in the first half and to have to play with 10. But to then miss two more games, that’s a little bit too much for me.

“Ok, there are other people who decide and I don’t have any power in that. So I will focus on the guys available.

“I’m going to be really interested to see the next couple of months if these contacts happen and whether every time it is a red card.”

In other news, Real Betis vs. Rangers: TV channel, live stream, PPV, and team news for the Europa League