Scottish Football: Ferguson faces SFA

IAN FERGUSON, the Rangers midfield player who was sent off for spitting at Dundee United's Goran Petric at Ibrox on Saturday, will face a Scottish FA disciplinary enquiry.

The Scottish international, already suspended for the next four games, could collect another hefty ban and possible financial punishment. Rangers' manager, Walter Smith, is unlikely to condone his behaviour while Jim Farry, the SFA chief executive, said yesterday that spitting was viewed as a 'highly serious' offence.

Ferguson was incensed in the dying seconds of Rangers' 3-0 home defeat when Petric caught him in the face with an elbow, but the referee, Bill Crombie, and the television cameras caught his retaliatory gesture.

He is automatically suspended for one game, for being sent off, and he has a three-match suspension starting on Saturday in addition, which means Ferguson will not play again until 15 January - unless the SFA decides to impose further punishment.

Rangers' defeat, inflicted by goals from Dave Bowman, after 24 seconds, Paddy Connolly and Craig Brewster, was not enough to knock them off the top of the Premier Division as Celtic could only draw at Dundee, Motherwell were beaten

3-2 at Hibernian and Aberdeen's game against Partick Thistle was postponed until tomorrow.

Celtic had a Gerry Creaney equaliser to be thankful for after Dragutin Ristic had given Dundee the lead at Dens Park; Motherwell seemed to be heading for the top after Tommy Coyne scored his first goals since his transfer from Tranmere, but late goals by Billy Findlay and Graham Mitchell put paid to that idea.