McAllister hopes Colombia snub will help Morelos improve his discipline

Rangers assistant boss Gary McAllister hopes missing out on a Copa America slot will finally convince Alfredo Morelos to clean up his act.

The striker has bagged 29 goals this season but that has not been enough to earn a place in the Colombia squad this summer after being left out by boss Carlos Queiroz.

Morelos looked well placed to join up with Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez for the tournament in Brazil after making his first international start against South Korea in March.

But just five days after collecting his third cap he suffered a shock meltdown at Celtic Park as he lashed out at Hoops skipper Scott Brown.

That earned the former HJK Helsinki forward his fifth red card of the season and Queiroz admits Morelos’ discipline woes were a major factor in his omission as he opted to go with the frontmen he could rely on.

Gers boss Steven Gerrard has spent much of the campaign urging his talisman to behave and McAllister hopes the penny will now have dropped.

The Light Blues number two said: “Alfredo has had an amazing season. He’s a player who I think has got loads of potential and going down the line there’s a top, top international footballer there.

“Just be patient, he’ll be OK. We have to remember, he’s still only 22 so he had plenty of time.

“Hopefully missing out for his country this summer is a lesson. He’s a young man and he’s got to be learning and taking everything on board.

“There’s been a lot said about the fella. We try as a coaching staff to advise, senior players in the dressing room speak to him as well.

“Hopefully the penny is dropping – but he’ll be fine.”

McAllister is hoping Morelos learns from his errors in the same way Gerrard has bounced back from the managerial mistakes he has made during his rookie season.

The former Scotland captain has had a close-up view of Gerrard over the last 12 months as he embarked on his first foray into first-team coaching.

It has not always been plain sailing as Celtic were allowed to march towards another treble but Gerrard and McAllister have struck upon a winning formula since their Old Firm defeat at Parkhead, with last weekend’s derby triumph their sixth in a row.

Now they hope to carry on that momentum into the summer break when they round off their season at Kilmarnock on Sunday.

Nikola Katic and Scott Arfield will miss the Rugby Park clash after both were given extra time off ahead of summer commitments with Croatia’s Under-21s and Canada respectively.

But Graham Dorrans could end his seven-month knee injury nightmare against Steve Clarke’s side.

“Graham has featured well in training recently,” said McAllister. “He’s had a couple of games behind closed doors and done very well so Graham will come into consideration for the weekend definitely.

“I’ve just been told we’ve never had a clean sweep of wins after the split so that is a good incentive for us.

“We’re on a good run so it will be nice to finish on a high and have that buoyancy for next season.”