Furious Philippe Clement branded Dan Casey's tackle on Ross McCausland as "too dangerous" as he demanded more protection for players from referees.

The Ibrox winger, 20, was forced off in the first half after feeling the effects of a heavy challenge from the Motherwell defender.

Casey escaped any punishment for the tackle but Rangers were forced into an early change with Fabio Silva replacing McCausland after 34 minutes.

And Clement insists similar tackles have no place in the game as he bemoaned red cards shown to his side for challenges with "less intensity".

"There was much too much intensity in that tackle. And he caught him," Clement told BBC Sportsound.

"We got a few red cards this season already with less intensity than this but now it was not even a foul or a yellow card.

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"That's very disappointing, for sure it's disappointing to have to make changes in the first half. For him, for the team you lose a moment also to arrange things you can use in the second half.

"These kind of tackles are just too dangerous for the game and you lose good players so I think it is a task also for the referees to protect the game and to protect players because this is too dangerous."

Clement added that Rangers will have to wait until tomorrow to discover the full extent of McCausland's injury but confirmed it was serious as the player "could not walk anymore".

The Ibrox boss said: "Ross we need to see tomorrow. Of course it's serious because he had to come off, he could not walk anymore, so then there is a really, really hard contact. 

"He doesn't come off in the first half for nothing. It's really clear that it was a serious foul."