“Naturally I am very disappointed.

“There is a lot of pain and we are not feeling good about ourselves. We got beat by a better team. One of the differences between us and Celtic, especially in a cup final, we cannot have any below par performances, we needed eight, nine or ten players playing well and I don’t think we quite got to that today.

“Celtic are a good side, we recognise that. They are a team who test your organisation and when we did get it right we were well in the game. We had some good spells. But when it wasn’t right we gave away opportunities. I know Rogic’s goal was a brilliant finish but we had a couple of chances to deal with it. Forrest’s goal is a good finish but he gets far too much space thirty yards from goal that allowed him to run at our back four. If you allow them the chance to run at you they will create openings. That was our problem, we needed to deal with their threat higher up the pitch. To do that you need to be brave and we did not do it enough.

“From set plays we were decent and had a chance with Andy’s header, it was a really good chance and I think he almost caught it too cleanly. But chances we few and far between, we cannot pretend otherwise.

“I felt from set plays we had good size and could ask some questions of them which we did a times.

“We said to the players at half time it was important we won the second half. I felt that was important for a lot of reasons. We were far more like ourselves. We squeezed the game, we put them under pressure, I did not see their better players having so much influence on the game and I thought we had good spells but when we got into good areas we never made the most of those openings. It is what you do in those areas that is important. We needed a goal.

“I was just about to make the change and take Anthony off and put Jayden on to try and have a bit more of a go to try and force the issue a little bit but unfortunately the penalty was converted and we were never going to get back into the game after that.

“I did not enjoy that part of the game either (last 30 minutes).

“It was not the experience we wanted. It is important we try and pick ourselves up. I believe we are a team who can get back to another final, hopefully this year in the Scottish Cup. We can use today’s sobering experience to help us. I believe my team will get to another final and hopefully the experience and the pain from today will help us win another cup.

“It is human nature. It is a big game. (why the team did not play as well today as we can) but you also have to look at the strength of your opponent. We all know that. It was important we did not show any fear, we had to try and make the game go our way by getting after them but we did not do that. I don’t think there is any disgrace in losing to this Celtic team. But there is still real disappointment because I know we are better than what we showed.

“We had to keep coming forward today. We had to try and ask them more questions but we did not manage to do that often enough. We did it from time to time but to beat Celtic you need to do it all the time.

“I am here to support my players. You are never quite sure how players will react but this is not an end of season defeat. There is still a lot to play for and there is so much more I expect from my team as well. There is plenty of football still to be played.

“We had a brilliant support today and I would like to thank them. To thank them for the display and the effort to come down and get behind us. We are disappointed for them as much as anyone. It is a long trip back up the road after a defeat. Hopefully there will be better days ahead and I firmly believe there will be.

“We expect more of ourselves and people expect more from us but I said before the game that even if we lost it was important we do not let it derail us. We have to keep going forward. We have to keep improving. I have every confidence in my players and they will be better for having had that defeat.

“I don’t mind putting ourselves up there to be shot down. We were huge underdogs today. I get that but I still expected us to win. I felt our preparation was good, I felt our form was good.

“That Celtic team don’t need to be at their maximum to beat most teams but to beat them you have to be and we were not today.

“It is now a test for the players and the staff. It is important we all stick together.

“There is no alternative but to keep going forward and trying to get the most out of the season. My players work very hard. Sometimes it happens for them and sometimes it does not. Hopefully we can be better throughout the season.

“It is our job to continually motivate the players. I don’t envisage that being a problem. We have Rangers at Ibrox next Saturday. December will be a defining month for a lot of teams. We have eight games which is a huge demand on the squad, almost a quarter of our league games squeezed into a month. So there is still loads to look forward to and work to do.”

“It is our job to continually motivate the players. I don’t envisage that being a problem. We have Rangers at Ibrox next Saturday. December will be a defining month for a lot of teams. We have eight games which is a huge demand on the squad, almost a quarter of our league games squeezed into a month. So there is still loads to look forward to and work to do.”