A RED RAW ENCOUNTER

ARNE ENGELS insists Thelo Aasgaard's red card tackle was one of the WORST he's seen in football.

- BY RYAN MCDONALD

Rangers playmaker Aasgaard was sent for an early bath after planting his studs into Anthony Ralston’s groin during a frantic first half.

Referee Nick Walsh immediately reached for his top pocket and ordered the Norwegian off (right) - leaving Gers with a mountain to climb as they trailed 1-0 after Johnny Kenny's opener.

Engels was just yards away from the shocking challenge that left Ralston in a heap. And the Belgian blasted: "That was an incredible tackle. If you go into to somebody like that, that’s just crazy I think. I was at a good angle to see it and it didn't really look good.

"Those tackles can't be on a football pitch. Was it one of the worst I've seen in my career? Yeah, probably one of the worst.

"We know that it’s a really big game and there are going to be tackles and duels that are on the limit. We also did that and that was also a positive thing about our intensity that we also showed that we were there.

"But those tackles can't be on a football pitch, you need to defend our players and that’s what we did as a group.

"We reacted really well on that and I think the referee made the right decision."