Alfredo Morelos: Steven Gerrard 'doing everything to help the kid'

Alfredo Morelos must "channel his aggression" if he is to "go to the next level", says Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, after the striker picked up a fourth red card this season.

Morelos scored twice in Rangers' 4-2 Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen, but was dismissed for the third time against the Pittodrie side this term.

Aberdeen's Scott McKenna was also red carded after the pair clashed again.

"I'm doing everything in my power to help the kid grow," Gerrard said.

"I haven't had the chance to analyse the incident so I can't tell you if Scott deserved a red or whether Alfredo did. They've had a fantastic battle up until that point.

"But if Alfredo is in the wrong, he'll deserve the red card. He'll then be missing for two games and that's how he'll get punished because he hates missing games."

Rangers have since appealed against the dismissal.

• Morelos off as Rangers beat Aberdeen

'Coming out with studs up is dangerous'

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes had no complaints about McKenna's red or the first-half penalty awarded against the defender, which was converted by James Tavernier.

However, he felt his side should have been awarded a second spot-kick for Allan McGregor's challenge on Lewis Ferguson, after Sam Cosgrove had scored from the spot to take the score to 3-2.

"Coming out with studs up like that is dangerous. It's a foul regardless of whether he has a pair of gloves on," McInnes told BBC Scotland.

"Both penalty decisions are probably right. For the red card, Scott has probably been guilty of a bit of naivety. It's not a deliberate hand ball but his hand is in an unnatural position.

"It's a sore one but there's 13 games to go and we'll dust ourselves down. I feel that we will get better but there's no real room for error."

Victory opened up a five-point gap for second-placed Rangers over Aberdeen, but Gerrard warned: "Aberdeen are not going away, Kilmarnock are not going away. Hearts are getting stronger.

"We can't rest on our laurels. We need to find consistency, keep growing and let's see what happens."