Rangers successfully appeal against Lewis Budinauckas red card after B team clash v Celtic
Rangers have been successful in their appeal to overturn Lewis Budinauckas' red card against Celtic in the B team Old Firm clash on Sunday [2 April].
The 20-year-old goalkeeper rushed forward to claim a long ball played and was adjudged to have grasped the ball outside his area, denying Celtic a clear goal-scoring opportunity, for which referee Greg Soutar flashed a red card in their 3-1 defeat.
And Rangers B & Academy confirmed on their Twitter account on 4 April, that Budinauckas' red card has been overturned and is now free of suspension going forward.
They tweeted: "Rangers FC have been successful in appealing the red card shown to Lewis Budinauckas in Sunday’s B Team Old Firm match.
"He is now free of suspension for the side’s fixtures going forward."
Fortunate
Budinauckas can certainly count himself incredibly fortunate not to be suspended after his rash decision to try and claim a ball almost outside of his area.
Many of those challenges are hugely risky and the young goalkeeper will not have handed himself any pleasing onlookers checking his form and development for the B team with that decision.
Such decisions will be scrutinised and looked upon when scouts are making judgements on the young goalkeeper and his Rangers future certainly hinges on whether he can mature himself in such situations as the goalkeeping position is certainly a testing one even for goalies as young as he is.
Hopefully, Budinauckas will learn from that experience and use it as a tool to improve in the future, especially with Rangers looking to refresh their goalkeeping position this summer. The 20-year-old will certainly have a lot of eyes on him in the near future, can he show he's capable of becoming a first-team shot-stopper?