NEIL McCann last night confirmed Dundee will appeal against the straight red card that Kenny Miller was shown on his return to Ibrox in the second-half of a one-sided defeat to Rangers that left his side rooted to the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Miller, whose third spell at the Glasgow club ended in acrimonious circumstances at the end of last season when he was suspended and then fined for a disciplinary matter he has now appealed against successfully, was ordered off by referee Kevin Clancy for a challenge on Borna Barisic.

The 38-year-old received a standing ovation from the home supporters as well as the away fans in the 50,130-strong crowd as he left the field in recognition of the service he had given their team during three unprecedented spells in Govan.

It was not, though, the sort of send-off the former Scotland internationalist, whose side was deservedly beaten 4-0 by their hosts, had been hoping for.

McCann, whose side is still without a point after five league matches, admitted the Dens Park outfit would take action at the end of a week in which the SFA disciplinary procedures have once again been heavily criticised by top flight clubs, managers and former players.

“We will appeal the decision, 100 per cent we will appeal the decision,” he said. “Kenny has won the ball. Yeah, he has gone through, his momentum has taken him through, and he caught the player.

“I haven’t had a chance to see it again, but I have spoken to Kenny. I saw it in real time and I thought he got the ball. I spoke to Kenny and he said: ‘I absolutely got the ball’. Yes, he did catch the man on the follow through. But there were several challenges like that today and the yellow card wasn’t brandished. So we’ll definitely appeal it.

“It was a straight red. I thought it was a second yellow I have to admit. I didn’t think the first one was a yellow. I thought he was trying to get himself across Andy Halliday going back through. I was surprised at the first yellow. But I was equally surprised when I learned it was a straight red because I was under the impression it was a second yellow.

“But there were a lot of yellow cards shown today and I’m not so sure it was a game worthy of that many yellow cards.”

McCann, whose side was three behind at half-time after goals from Lassana Coulibaly, Ryan Kent and James Tavernier and then conceded to substitute Glenn Middleton late on, stressed that he remains confident that he can turn around Dundee’s fortunes.

“I don’t mind pressure,” he said. “I will take the heat, absolutely. As a manager you have to be big enough and brave enough to take it. It is the environment we all live in. We all know it is a results business and I am disappointed for the fans.

“It was yet another game where we gave ourselves too much to do, where we were trying to come from behind. In Glasgow that is really difficult. Going down to ten men made it even more so because they were able to bring on their subs to give them more impetus in wide areas where we were a wee bit vulnerable.

“I don’t chuck it, the players don’t chuck it. We are playing with a lack of confidence just now but there are sparkles within games which give me encouragement they are good enough to do it. They just need a wee bit more self-belief, a wee bit more confidence to say I am going to be the man who does it without looking across to the side and saying you be it.

“I am encouraged by that. That is the character you need, especially when you are on a run of straight defeats. We will be back to work on Monday preparing for the next match.

McCann felt that not having a full squad to choose from had made Dundee’s chances of victory against a Rangers team seeking to bounce back from a defeat to their city rivals Celtic 13 days earlier nigh on impossible.

“I have to commend the boys because we were down to bare bones at the back,” he said. “We had some bad luck at the international break. Ryan Innes hurt his hamstring in training, Josh Meekings hasn’t recovered and Darren O’Dea has hardly played a full game because of injury.

“So we are throwing him in there, Gensie (Genseric Kusunga) shouldn’t have come on the pitch. He stood up with an injury to his groin. But they stuck at it. It is always hard coming to Ibrox and getting a sore one. We just need to deal with that. I will be up front about that. We will get back to work on Monday.”