Morelos absence aboost forSaints

Tommy Wright hopes St Johnstone can take advantage of Rangers being without star man Alfredo Morelos.

The Colombian striker misses this weekend’s Premiership match as he serves a three-match ban for a red card at Aberdeen.

While the absence of Morelos will be a boost, Wright warned that Rangers have plenty in reserve to remain a significant threat.

“I thought it was going to be difficult for Rangers to overturn his ban because the rules say there has to be an obvious error by the referee,” Wright said.

“While Rangers maybe benefited from previous incidents involving the player, I didn’t think this one was ever going to be overturned.

“Morelos was the difference in our game at Perth when we lost 2-1.

“It is unfortunate for them obviously but good news for us because Morelos is the leading goalscorer in the league and a top quality player. We are pleased he isn’t going to be playing against us and on paper the task might look a little bit easier.

“But we know they have real quality players in the likes of Defoe and Lafferty ready to replace him.”

Saints lost 5-1 at Ibrox earlier in the season and Wright is determined to avoid a similar scoreline this time around.

The Northern Irishman is looking for a reaction from his Perth players after a 5-0 Scottish Cup defeat against Celtic last weekend.

“Rangers have been going well and have a great record at home,” Wright said.

“We are going there on the back of a few setbacks.

“But, as I said to my players right after the Celtic game on Sunday, we can’t let three defeats against arguably the best squad, who are playing the best football in the country at the minute, get us down too much.”

Kick-off at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon is 3pm.