Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has criticised Kyle Lafferty for his performance in the Old Firm derby for Rangers, writing in The Daily Record.

What’s the word?

After a fine start to life under Steven Gerrard, Rangers were brought crashing back down to earth last weekend after defeat to Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season – putting a dent into the club’s hopes of toppling Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Rangers’ fine start to the new season had led to increased confidence around Ibrox and summer signing Kyle Lafferty, who returned to the club from Hearts in a deal worth £500k, claimed ahead of the clash with Celtic that Rangers were capable of knocking their arch-rivals off their perch.

However, those comments have since come back to haunt the Northern Ireland international and former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has criticised Lafferty in the wake of his comments and his performance against the Bhoys, in comments published by The Daily Record.

What was said?

“There’s nothing wrong with having belief, or even quiet confidence in the dressing room, but coming away with these comments in public only leave you wide open again. The fact that it’s him coming out with this stuff is even more laughable given his performance in the Old Firm game last week.

“Lafferty was completely anonymous at Celtic Park. Hopeless even. He was meant to be a big game player but he and Alfredo Morelos never got a sniff.”

Harsh words?

While Lafferty was singled out for criticism by Sutton following the defeat to Celtic, the fact that he mentions that neither the 30-year-old or Alfredo Morelos got a sniff in the game suggests that the root of the problem was creativity.

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As such, laying into comments from Lafferty is a bit of a strange move – particularly as it was hardly a routine victory for Celtic and there is still plenty of football to be played this season, though it is clear Gerrard’s side will have to respond.

After scoring a brace in his first match back in Rangers colours, Lafferty has certainly hit the ground running and the fact that he did not perform to his best against Celtic, in what was only his second league appearance for the club, is not a fair reflection of his ability.

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