Rangers boss Philippe Clement is on a collision course with the SFA over a controversial red card shown to Mohamed Diomande for violent conduct in his team’s 3-1 win over Dundee United.

Trailing to Sam Dalby’s opener, Diomande’s first-half equaliser was the catalyst for the Ibrox side to strike back through second-half goals from Robin Propper and Cyriel Dessers and secure their first away win in the league since December 10.

But the manager vowed to appeal after referee Nick Walsh stood by his decision to send off Diomande in the dying minutes despite a referral to the pitchside monitor by VAR Don Robertson.

Clement felt a yellow card would have sufficed but, in guidance provided to the BBC, the SFA later explained: ‘Nick Walsh has taken the view that there was a deliberate swing of the arm towards the face of an opponent, which was not negligible, and therefore constitutes violent conduct.’

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd described the decision as ‘embarrassing’ on Sky Sports, and Clement agreed, saying: ‘I totally don’t understand the red card. I think the VAR also didn’t understand the red card, otherwise they don’t ask the referee to come to watch the screen. 

Mohamed Diomande protests his innocence after being shown a red card at Tannadice

Diomande aimed a slap at Kevin Holt, missing his face, after the United defender had pushed him

‘So Dio gets pushed, pushed away, so there’s violent contact towards him in the push, and he falls back, and he has a small reaction with his hands, not touching anybody.

‘If you see that back, I think it’s clear. 

‘If this is a red card, then every game there should be three, four red cards. So the only thing we can do now is to appeal this, because I don’t understand that you can go to the screen and then stick to your opinion of the red card… but it happened.’

Asked if he had raised his concerns with Walsh personally, the Belgian replied: ‘No, I didn’t, because I know how these things go. 

‘He’s in the emotions, I’m in the emotions, so that’s not a good moment. 

‘It’s a good thing we have the open communication with the referee department, and we’re going to appeal that, and then we’re going to see what they think about it, and also to ask what the VAR said.

‘It’s clear they bring him to the screen, so they don’t agree with the decision. I think it’s clear for everybody. Everybody that I speak to here says that they don’t understand the red card.’

Rangers rode their luck in an opening half hour when United opened the scoring through Dalby and struck the woodwork, goalkeeper Jack Butland also saving well from Luca Stephenson.

Philippe Clement cannot understand why Nick Walsh stood by his decision  after a VAR check

Diomande’s strike after 37 minutes changed the momentum, Propper’s deflected strike early in the second period turning the game on its head before Dessers followed his stunning late goal against Manchester United in midweek by securing the team’s fourth away win in 12 attempts.

‘We knew it was a hard place to come, to get this away victory, but my players dug in,’ said Clement.

‘We shot ourselves in the foot in these away games by making mistakes and giving confidence to the other teams. 

‘Today also you can see the goal from the throw-in, which I’m not happy about, but we didn’t rush anymore. We stuck to the plan, we kept on playing our football, and we found the solutions.

‘So the team is making progression. They’re learning from the mistakes of the past, and that’s normal with a team who needs to grow, and with a lot of players who were not playing together last season, or were not in the building last season.’

Clement dismissed pre-match rumours of a move to Turkey for left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, saying he missed the game through injury. 

The manager hopes to have him back for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox.

‘That story is total shambles,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen Ridvan every day, the last couple of days, so I hear reports that he was in Turkey and all these things. He had a small injury. I hope he’s back on Thursday.’