Barry Ferguson & Rangers ace in angry exchange with Aberdeen, security called onto pitch amid boiling tensions

Barry Ferguson and a Rangers star have been spotted getting into it with the Aberdeen squad after a dramatic end to their Premiership clash.

The game at Pittodrie ended 2-2 as Celtic stand mere inches from the title, with a 15 point gap with five games to play. Aberdeen were two goals up in the first half and look destined for three points after Ross McCausland was sent off in the first half for two bookable offences.

Then in the second, Hamza Igamane reduced the deficit before Ianis Hagi curled in a brilliant effort with virtually the last kick of the game to spark joy for the away side.

Pittodrie tensions

Then after the game, the Sky Sports cameras cut to the centre circle where John Souttar and Graeme Shinning could be spotted having a heated conversation. Dons players dragged Shinnie away and interim Ibrox boss Ferguson pulled his man out the equation. It wasn’t to defuse things though, it seems, as he simply replaced Souttar in the bickering match as a security guard was forced to interject himself into the scenario. Ferguson was then ushered away from the situation by the home team and the security guard urged Rangers towards their own fans as another member of security staff was placed in the scenario with Nico Raskin beginning to exchange words.

Commentator Ian Crocker said: "We thought this 2-0 deficit might be a step too far, as John Souttar and Graeme Shinnie have words here. We thought they might struggle to turn this 2-0 deficit around after Ross McCausland was sent off but no, not this Rangers team. Barry Ferguson having a bit to say there as well.”

Pittodrie great Willie Miller could sense that Rangers were getting on top in the game. He said on Sportsound commentary of the game: “Rangers have been dominant [in the second half]. Aberdeen are struggling to cope with the ten men of Rangers and the changes Barry Ferguson made at the interval.

No European focus

Coach Billy Dodds was adamant pre game attention wasn’t wandering to their Europa League second leg with Athletic Bilbao midweek. He told Rangers TV: “It's a tasty fixture, it is one of the biggest in the calendar in the Scottish Premiership. I think whether you are an Aberdeen player or Rangers player this is a fixture you are looking forward to.

“It will probably be a full house and there will be a good atmosphere so if you can't look forward to this game then there's something wrong. The players put a lot into Thursday night, but we knew we were going to have to put a lot in to get a result. All we are concentrating on is Aberdeen. We are not even looking to next Thursday. We would be naive and stupid to even look ahead to next Thursday.

"We need to go full out, whoever we play, whatever team we pick. We want to beat every team we play, we have had a couple of disappointments, so we know how that feels so we are going there to win.”