Wright to be questioned

The long and troubled disciplinary record of the former Arsenal striker Ian Wright seems certain to be extended when the Scottish Football Association meets next month to question the English striker over statements made in a newspaper about his post-match sending-off at Kilmarnock on Sunday.

The SFA revealed yesterday that the referee Kenny Clark had red-carded Wright in the dressing room after he adjudged that he had manhandled the fourth official Willie Young in the tunnel at the end of the draw.

But the authorities are more concerned about Wright's unrepentant attitude in his column. "This silly fourth official kept hassling me," Wright claimed. "He kept pushing me, telling me to go to the changing rooms. He wouldn't leave off. He did this to me four times. I said I wouldn't move and pushed him back, just the once. He looked at me and said `Right, you're done'."

Those remarks are sure to attract the attention of the SFA's general purposes committee which has the power to bring separate charges on top of the automatic suspension for the red card.

Wright was booked after the final whistle following a scuffle with Kilmarnock's Jim Lauchlan and Celtic, who have seven days to respond to the referee's report, may well claim that it was Lauchlan's last-minute lunge on Wright which started the trouble.

The red card means that the striker misses Celtic's Scottish Cup tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday, but the push on the official could lead to a heavy fine and a much lengthier ban.

Meanwhile, Marco Negri, who has been out for 20 months, could not reproduce the goal-scoring form which made him such a Rangers favourite in last night's scoreless friendly against Sparta Rotterdam.