McKay warns Rangers player could suffer a serious injury due to "dangerous" play of Premiership rivals

No fewer than six Ross County players were booked by referee Andrew Dallas for illegal challenges during the Ladbrokes Premiership match at the Global Energy Stadium yesterday.

Jim McIntyre, the County manager, admitted that his bottom-placed side, who drew the game 1-1 after Andrew Davies cancelled out Clint Hill’s early opener, had deserved all of their cautions.

Read more: Rangers revival grinds to a halt with disappointing Ross County draw

However, McKay, who was unable to net a winner after coming on for Kenny Miller in the second half, revealed he was concerned about the “dangerous” approach he felt the home team adopted.

The Scotland internationalist was unhappy that Rangers team mates were continually taken out off the ball by their hosts as they broke upfield in Dingwall and is worried one of them could be badly hurt if it happens again.

“When you break through the lines and people take you out then it can be dangerous,” he said.

“Josh Windass has a few bumps and bruises, but it could end up a lot worse. You can twist something. It’s called a professional foul, but it can be dangerous for the player on the receiving end.”

Read more: Rangers revival grinds to a halt with disappointing Ross County draw

McKay, though, admitted that his side, who failed to reclaim second place in the Premiership from Aberdeen, had played poorly and need to perform better if they want to put a winning run together.

It was the seventh time in 12 top flight games that the Championship winners had failed to win and the 21-year-old believes they have to do better up front if they are to stop conceding points.

“It was quite disappointing not to get the win,” he said. “We created a lot of chances on the counter, especially in the first half, and it was quite disappointing not to take them.

“It was pretty sloppy all over the park and it’s not like us to give the ball away as much as we did and let them counter attack us. It’s frustrating we can’t find consistency and we need to start getting it.

“We know we can do it and must be more clinical when we get chances. There were chances for nearly everyone on the park and the boys who got them would have been disappointed not to put them away.”

McKay felt the performance of Windass, who set up Hill for the only Rangers goal of the game, had been one of the few positives to come out of the disappointing trip to the Highlands.

Read more: Rangers revival grinds to a halt with disappointing Ross County draw

He predicted the Englishman, who has been sidelined with injuries since joining from Accrington Stanley during the summer, will improve in the weeks ahead as he gets more first team games under his belt.

“Josh is a great player with a lot of pace and his passing is good,” he said. “He’s still getting used to the way we’re playing because sometimes he’ll come too deep or go to high but he was really good today and won a lot of fouls.”

Warburton was also unhappy about the treatment meted out to his players as they drew with Ross County for the second time this season. “I don’t know how many yellow cards there were in the second half,” he said. “That was a disappointing aspect. Every time we played it forward our man was dragged back and that was frustrating for us.”