The captain spoke to the media after the game:

“Very disappointing.

“The most disappointing part is that we did not get going in that first half.

“We were very poor. We did not get a foothold in the game. We allowed them to have too much of the ball and too much of the play.

“We got off the worst start we could have asked for. We wanted to frustrate them as much as we could to get the crowd on their back. They obviously done the opposite and got the goal which gave them a massive lift. First half we were simply not good enough. We gave the Rangers players too much time and space to do what they wanted. And it gave us too much to do.

“I thought we were better in the second half but lost a goal that I believe was offside. The only slight positive, if you can call it that, was that we were slightly better in that second period.

“We played better in the second half but we had a mountain to climb after that first half performance. We had too much to do.

“The first half was so poor but our standards.

“We said at half time we wanted to get the next goal to put the pressure right on and I think we played better. We passed the ball better and got into some better areas. But we did not create anything clear cut which was disappointing.

“We did not produce our usual type of performance. As I said we did not produce the start we wanted and it got them off to a flier. It brought the crowd into it.

“Gary Mackay-Steven gave us a little spark at the end of the first half. Gary has had the back of his heel caught. It looked a penalty from where I was. The contact has stopped him getting a better shot away.

“But overall in that first half, we did not impose ourselves on the game.

“A very poor night.

“Everyone is gutted naturally after a performance like that.

“There is no better game to come round than this one on Sunday. We can put things right and we need to do that. We need to have a good look at ourselves tonight and make sure we are more prepared for Sunday.

“I think the motivation will be there to right a wrong and do a lot better than we did tonight.

“The speculation regarding the manager has been going on for weeks. We have no interest in it. It is up to us as players to go out onto the park and deliver the goods and tonight we did not do that, especially in the first half.

“This season I think we have picked up some good results but I don’t think we have hit the heights that we know we can. Apart from a couple of games, I don’t think we have been as good as we can be. We need to pick ourselves up now and show what kind of team we are in Sunday.

“We have done well to be in the position we are but performance wise we have not hit the heights that we are capable of. We are still in a strong position and we are now desperate to win the game on Sunday. We know that Rangers will come up wanting to hunt us down and we will have to be on the top of our game now. We need to right a wrong and there is better game to come around.

“The atmosphere will be different. We will have the crowd behind us and we need to use the crowd as well and give them something to cheer.

“We will miss Ryan and probably Gary but we have players who can come into the side.

“We have to be so much better if we are to give the fans something to be proud of.”