DAVID MCCALLUM blamed a first half ‘power cut’ for Rangers’ dramatic Glasgow Cup defeat as Celtic secured the silverware at Ibrox.
Rangers fought back from three goals down to give themselves a chance of overcoming their Old Firm rivals and retaining the trophy on home soil.
Alex Lowry netted from the spot in the first half before Zak Lovelace and Tony Weston netted at the beginning and end of the second period to send the tie straight to penalties.
Ross McCausland and Graham both missed before captain Robbie Fraser saw his effort saved. A Kelsey Ewen miss proved decisive as the Hoops lifted the cup.
But McCallum admits it was a series of mistakes in the first half that ultimately cost his side as Celtic were handed the advantage that Rangers couldn’t quite overcome before the spot kick lottery.
McCallum said: “The penalties for me become irrelevant, I know that’s where the games are won and lost at the end but ultimately, we had an 11-minute power cut in the first half that put us on the back foot and gave us a mountain to climb.
READ MORE: Rangers pay the Glasgow Cup penalty as Celtic earn Ibrox shoot-out win
“We almost went into our shells in the first half but in the second half, we showed much more personality and an example of how we want to play on and off the ball.
“We get goals back and ultimately, we have numerous chances in the second half to win the game in normal time. That’s where the pain hurts because we could’ve won it ourselves and we put ourselves in that position.
“That’s the main frustration because we’ve just lost a cup final at Ibrox in our stadium against Celtic, it will hurt the boys right now but we know where the game has been won and lost.
“We’ve not spoken about penalties, we’ve spoken about how we’re going to move forward individually. We can’t put ourselves on the back foot, if you have a bad moment in a game it can’t be that you lose two or three in that moment of time.
“We have to be more secure and resilient. I’m so pleased about the reaction at half-time because that did show they did have character and personality, they just needed that reset moment. I’m so disappointed they’ve not won the game in normal time.”
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