Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst was left asking what more his side could do after giving champions in waiting Celtic a fright.
The 48-year-old was left cursing his side's luck in front of goal as they failed to capitalise on a dominant second half during the 1-1 draw.
But the stalemate leaves Rangers needing snookers in their bid to retain the title as they remain six points behind with three Premiership games left.
Fashion Sakala grabbed a share of the spoils but the same player passed up a golden chance to win the game when he cracked the post.
But Van Bronckhorst was quick to salute his stars who fought to the final whistle in a bid to beat Celtic for a second consecutive time.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "We needed a win to close the gap to three points.
"We drew, I think we did everything, I couldn't have asked more from my players what they've given today, especially in the second half.
"We pushed really hard to come back into the game, which we did, good opportunities to win this game in the final 10 or 12 minutes.
"We did everything we could to win this game, but in the end, we are two points short."
Van Bronckhorst sensed a momentum shift after Celtic's raft of substitutions before Sakala ripped his strike past a helpless Joe Hart.
But the Dutchman was left frustrated as a host of chances went begging.
He added: "Definitely, second half, I think after 60, 65 minutes we were getting stronger and stronger, I think we did really well in those moments, created great chances.
"We hit the post, Fashion was one vs one with Hart, what can you ask for more?
"The only thing is we didn't score the big chances we had."
And van Bronckhorst admits his team face a mountain to climb in their bid to retain the title with Celtic in position to strike next week if results go their way.
He added: "Of course, only a win today would give us a chance to close the gap even more, it's still six points with the goal difference in favour of Celtic.
"It will be more difficult after today."
But the Rangers manager knows there's no time to be downbeat with the second leg of their Europa League semi final looming against Leipzig.
And he's backing his troops to rebound once again in front of a packed Ibrox.
He added: "We have to prepare well, I think we had a good performance today, physcially we looked strong.
"Now we have three days to prepare for Leipzig at home, where we can reach a Final in Europe.
"So, we are going to prepare like we always do and have the same intentions and the same character that we showed today."
