Michael Beale says he genuinely believes the gap isn't 'massive' between his Rangers side and champions-elect Celtic.
The gap in the league, however, is now twelve points as Ange Postecoglou's men simply would not go down at Parkhead in a thrilling 3-2 derby win to all-but seal the retention of their Scottish Premiership crown. It was disaster stations for Rangers who, despite captain James Tavernier netting a landmark double, made critical errors that allowed Kyogo and Jota to capitalise.
But Beale will not lament the likes of John Souttar and Ben Davies for their errors, even branding the former Hearts man 'outstanding' on the day. The Englishman says Rangers didn't deserve to lose and that there are 'two good football teams in this country, not one'.
He said: “Listen, we’ve got work to do. We have made improvements – I think everyone can see an improved Rangers team now in terms of our energy and commitment. But we certainly need to recruit in the summer. We need to come out of that window a lot stronger.
“I’m a defender of these players because I manage the team. And I don’t think the gap’s massive between us and Celtic. The reality is that we’re behind in the league and you’d be deemed a fool saying words like that. But that’s genuinely what I believe.
“We didn’t deserve to lose today but we’ve got to get over this. And if we cut out one or two mistakes then the semi-final will be really interesting. I think you saw two good football teams today. There are two good football teams in this country, not one.
“My players have got to keep showing that on the pitch and grab a bit of respect back. There’s been a bit of disrespect for a Rangers team that has only lost six league games in 107.
“So this is a good team. That result was in our hands today but we made two massive errors. I didn’t see Celtic making those errors, so that’s frustrating.
“But if we eradicate that we’ll be on the right road. The two mistakes cost us but they weren’t the only ones.
“We had chances up at the other end where we could have been a bit more decisive. I thought my team played well today and deserved a bit more.”
He added: “I thought John was outstanding. He hasn’t played all season because of injury. He’s had to bide his time. We lost Connor with 20 minutes to go in training on Friday and John was then playing. But I thought he played really well. I don’t want the focus to be on the misplaced pass.
“To come in and play 90 minutes here, John did well. That’s probably the start of his Rangers career.”
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