Griffiths admitted referee got pen wrong

JAMES TAVERNIER reckons referee Willie Collum was wrong to award Celtic a decisive penalty at Hampden – and insists Hoops star Leigh Griffiths agrees with him.

The right-back was penalised for a foul on Griffiths early in the second half as he lunged in to try and stop the striker from doubling Celtic’s advantage. Scott Sinclair did just that seconds later as Wes Foderingham was unable to keep out his effort from twelve yards.

The Gers never looked like recovering and Tavernier was disappointed with a lacklustre showing from Pedro Caixinha’s side.

He said: “I thought it wasn’t a penalty and I got the ball first, and [Leigh] Griffiths thought it wasn’t a penalty either when I spoke to him. It’s one of those you can’t do anything about.

“It is a tough one to take. We have been second best today and started the game off poorly.

“We started slow and the first thing we wanted to do was compete, and I don’t think we competed with them which was disappointing.

“We started better [in the second half], but we have to be clinical in games like this. When we come up against Celtic and they are clinical against us, we need to be the same when we play against them and we have the chances.

“That was the difference – them being clinical and not putting up a fight.”

Rangers must now pick themselves up and prepare for another Old Firm encounter as Celtic get set to visit Ibrox this weekend.

And Tavernier admits Caixinha and his players will take time to reflect on where it all went wrong as they missed out on a Scottish Cup Final berth.

He told RangersTV: “The manager tends not to speak to the lads after the games, and he has been like that since he came in.

“Win, lose or draw he never really says anything and usually reflects the next day when he has got his thoughts together.

“It’s one of those where the changing room is quiet. We are disappointed and we need to work hard this week and put things right for Saturday.”