Arthur's Column // 11th April 2023

To come away from Celtic Park on Saturday with zero points was very unfair.

I thought Rangers played well enough to get at least a draw and we were also on the receiving end of a poor decision by referee, Kevin Clancy.

The header from Alfredo Morelos should have stood. It wasn't a foul. That would have put us one goal up and a totally different complexion on the game. However, we were also our own worst enemies with the way we defended. We made terrible mistakes to gift Celtic two goals.

We also weren't clinical enough inside the opposition penalty box. I wanted Alfredo and Ryan Kent to be more instinctive and direct.

They were too ponderous at crucial moments.

In the pre-match interviews, Michael Beale highlighted that the players needed to be lethal in the 18 yard box for us to win the game.

This defeat means we are now looking at the Scottish Cup as being our only chance of silverware in this campaign.

We are the holders of this Cup and we need to retain it. I don't want to even contemplate us not winning the semi-final at the end of the month.

It's been a year since we defeated Celtic and that is far too long. We need to find a way to bring this unwanted run to an end.

We know Celtic is a good team but they are not unbeatable.

Maybe we just need to show more belief. The players need to have the right mentality when they take the field at Hampden Park on April 30th.

Michael has to find a way to win this game. The players need to follow the plan to the letter.

It's also important to go into this game on the back of two league victories. The game at home to St Mirren on Saturday is important. Saints are in very good form and they will make it difficult.

But we should be winning and taking that on into the following weekend for the trip to Aberdeen. I want to see us taking six points before the League split, scoring a few goals and keeping two clean sheets.

We can't allow what happened on Saturday to affect us in the coming weeks. We need to be strong and ready to make sure this season ends on a high.