Barry Ferguson has revealed what he told Ross McCausland after he was sent off in Rangers' 2-2 draw with Aberdeen on Sunday.
The Ibrox side found themselves a goal down after half an hour as Leighton Clarkson's long-range free-kick beat Liam Kelly.
To then make matters worse, McCausland was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence just before Aberdeen doubled their advantage.
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It was the winger's first start since January when he got the nod against Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup.
He didn't even see half-time, though, and after he was sent off, Ferguson had a word with him.
The caretaker boss revealed what he told McCausland post-match: "I spoke to Ross at half-time and after the game," he said [Sky Sports].
"[I told him] you can't be making a mistake like that when you're on a booking.
"Maybe at that stage when he got booked, because he had a couple of tackles, maybe I should have made the decision earlier to substitute him. But it happened. He got, correctly, a second yellow and a red card, and then it's backs to the wall stuff again."
Although Ferguson's men went two goals behind, they rallied and admirably came away from the northeast with a point thanks to second-half strikes from Hamza Igamane and Ianis Hagi.
Full attention now turns to Thursday's Europa League quarter-final second leg with Athletic Club: "I am excited about going, but I'm also respectful," Ferguson said.
"It's going to be tough for us. As a footballer, as a manager, I'm excited about it. I'm excited about getting into that sort of atmosphere.
"What an opportunity we've got. The game's wide open. The main thing for me on Thursday night was making sure we were still in the tie. The guys deserved, with the performance, to still be in the tie.
"We'll go there on Thursday, having to know our jobs, what way we're going to play. We need to get it spot on. We do really need to get it spot on. Then that's up to me and the coaching staff to make sure we do it over Tuesday and Wednesday before we get into the game on Thursday."
