CALLUM DAVIDSON admitted that he hooked Eetu Vertainen at half-time against Rangers because he felt the striker was culpable in the build-up to Alfredo Morelos’ opening goal.

The Finn attempted to beat his opposite number minutes before the interval but instead carelessly gifted possession away, eventually resulting in a corner that Morelos ultimately tucked away to hand the Premiership champions the lead.

Stevie May was brought on in Vertainen’s stead but a Ryan Kent tap-in minutes after the restart all but killed the game as a contest.

“When you come to Ibrox you have got to play,” Davidson said.

“I don't want to talk about other players in opposition teams but I thought Morelos was superb. When the ball came to him it stuck and he linked it, it was dead simple.

“When he wasn't sure, he just played a safe pass. It was really good forward play.

“I wanted more from my strikers, especially when you come to Ibrox.

“If someone takes it off him by fighting and scrapping I will accept it but not little flicks round the corner with two minutes to go. It basically cost us the chance of getting something from the game.

“I thought it was a hard game for us. One team held the ball up well and linked play. For me that was the most disappointing thing.

“In the 42nd minute we were trying to flick balls round corners when it was important we stayed in the game.

“This is a tough place to come. We could have seen the game through to half-time and that basically cost us the game because we were trying to chase it after that.

“We lost our shape a bit at the start of the second half and it was game over.”

Davidson would have been hoping to call upon first-choice centre-forward Chris Kane for the clash at Ibrox but the striker was identified as a close contact after a family member tested positive for Covid and thus had to self-isolate.

Davidson admits losing an important player in such a manner was a frustration.

“These new rules just came in on Friday and I end up losing my main striker for 10 days,” he added.

“First and foremost I do hope the family member is safe and well, most importantly.

“But it's a bitter blow, a real hard one to take, that we are going to lose Chris for these important games coming up. I am going to get one or two back and lose one or two quickly again.

“It will definitely turn. I thought Stevie May was going to be out longer, so it was a bonus there, I thought he was excellent when he came on, his work-rate and energy was really good and he caused a threat. So we have got him there and we have got a lot of positives.”