STEVEN DAVIS admits that Wednesday night’s defeat on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in the final of the Europa League was hard to take.
The veteran midfielder came off the bench towards the end of the second half and the Northern Irishman believes that the team had their chances to win the game.
A long shot from Borna Barisic drew a smart stop from Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Davis had an effort that whistle over the bar but it wasn’t enough as the Ibrox outfit lost out in the shoot-out.
“It is obviously a huge disappointment,” he told BT Sport. “Once it goes to that stage of the game, it’s a lottery.
“You are looking to win it and it’s hard to reflect straight away due to that disappointment.
“We were desperate to send the fans home happy. They have been tremendous for us this whole campaign and the boys have been tremendous. But it hurts.
“I thought we starting to get control of the game [in extra-time]. Borna had a shot, I had a chance.
“It was always going to be determined by a mistake or a moment of magic and, ultimately, if that doesn’t happen, it goes to penalties and, unfortunately, we were on the wrong side.
“Whenever you get to a final, it always hurts when you don’t come away with the trophy and this is the same.
“I felt going into the game with the form we have shown and the teams we had beaten and the way had played throughout this journey has been unbelievable. I really thought we would go on to win it.
“It is a major disappointment, but, at the same time, I couldn’t be more proud of all of the lads, the staff, the fans and everyone associated with the club.
“We know how difficult it is to get here. We left everything out on the pitch to try and get a result, but it hasn’t happened. It is going to be a sore one to take.
“We know how difficult it will be to get to this stage again, we’ve done unbelievable. But I just want to thank the fans again.
“They travelled from all over the world and I just want to say thank you to them. It’s been a great journey, but disappointment in the end.”
Davis, aged 37, was then asked about his future but the midfielder says his focus is fully on this weekend’s Scottish Cup final against Hearts.
“I don’t want to think about that [the future] tonight,” he added. “We’ve obviously got a massive game on Saturday as well, so, hopefully, we’ll get a winners medal there.
“But we need to get over the disappointment of this first.”
