RICKI Lamie believes his early yellow card on Sunday prevented him from showing his usual wholehearted approach against Rangers at Ibrox.

Lamie was booked after just four minutes for a foul on Gers forward Martyn Waghorn, and the defender insists it made his job a whole lot more difficult and took away his ability to play his usual full-spirited game.

The 23-year-old also says he spent half the game consciously thinking about the booking — which hindered his decision making before he was subbed by Jim Duffy in the second half.

He told the Tele: “An early yellow card completely halts any kind of initiative that you’d like to show during the game in terms of matching your man or getting tight to people.

“Especially playing at full-back because you’re a wee bit more vulnerable playing against a front three. 

“Personally I didn’t think it was a booking, I spoke to the ref just after the incident and then at half-time because I felt it was very harsh.

“Running back with Waghorn it was a purely accidental coming together. But that early in the afternoon I was surprised to be booked.

“But it did take away any bit of initiative I could show. Trying to nick in and steal the ball, there are far more one-on-one situations where you think ‘I can’t dangle a leg here’, or ‘do I show him down the line in case I miss-time a block or a tackle?’

“Consciously that’s all that was in my mind through the rest of the game and I’ve watched it back since and you can see that I’m visibly hesitant from then on, and that’s a shame because those are the kind of games where you want to show what you can do and have an impact for the team.

“I think it had a big influence on how I had to approach the game from then on in and it influenced the gaffer’s decision to change things up. Like everyone I hate coming off, but I understood the decision.”