Joe Garner was widely criticised for his wild challenge on Dougie Imrie the last time Rangers met Hamilton.
Hamilton defender Georgios Sarris has told Rangers striker Joe Garner he needs to calm down before he ends someone’s career.
Sarris watched Garner’s reckless challenge on Accies teammate Dougie Imrie in horror the last time these sides met a fortnight ago.
The Gers forward remarkably escaped with just a yellow card, but Sarris says that Imrie was lucky to escape the incident without suffering a serious injury.
The Greek defender has urged hothead Garner to think about the consequences of his actions, before he has the career of a fellow professional on his conscience.
“The tackle on Dougie was two red cards, not one,” Sarris said.
“For example, if this guy kicks Dougie in the knee and breaks his knee, how does he sleep at night? “Everyone has to think that way. If you’re going to kick or hit or punch someone, if you make big damage, how can you live with this every day? It’s like you’re killing him.
“If he has an injury maybe he’s out for six months. If you don’t want that to happen to you, you don’t do it to another player.
“I play for my family. My wife is pregnant, we’re waiting for our first baby every day. I play for them, my father, my mother, my brother, my grandmother, I want to help them. If someone kicks me on purpose and I have a problem, it’s like you kick my family.
“They need to think before they react like this. I’m not speaking about one person, I’m speaking about all footballers, they need to think. It’s not normal to go and kick someone without a reason. And the one at Ibrox was without a reason.
“I’m not just speaking about Dougie and the Rangers game, in every game in every action, you need to think before you react.
“It’s like having a gun and you are going to kill someone, and a minute later you say, ‘what have I done?’ My friend, you did that. You need to think before you react like this.”
Sarris remembers new Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha from his spell as assistant manager in his homeland with Panathinaikos, and he thinks the Scottish league will be a culture shock for the Gers boss.
While there will no doubt be quite the atmosphere as the light blue legions welcome their new man today, Sarris is unfazed by the significance of the occasion.
“Every week is a challenge, every week is a big game,” he said. “I said it on the first day I came here, I don’t care if I play in front of 10,000 or 100,000.
“We went to Ibrox and the result was 1-1, and every week you have to play like this, as if we are playing the biggest team.
“We have to take points from the bottom half teams, but everybody can see that we have played well against the big teams like Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen. We’ve beaten Aberdeen twice.
“So, you can be stressed and say to yourself that it is a big game, but every game is a big game.
“It is a big game against Kilmarnock, Inverness or Rangers, all games are the same. You need to have that mentality in your life.”
There will likely be enough to occupy the minds of the Hamilton defence on the pitch at Ibrox today, but Sarris’s wife Maria is approaching her due date as they await the impending arrival of daughter Nancy.
So, if the big defender is hurriedly substituted this afternoon, you will know the reason why.
“We are waiting,” he said. “The doctor said April 5th but we think it is going to be earlier because my princess is pushing down!
“I spoke with the gaffer before Hearts because while I’m playing I have no phone. The physios have my wife’s number and the gaffer said, in fun I think, if your wife calls we’ll substitute you. But I’m a professional and I have to play my game.”
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