'No ill-feeling' - Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall hails Rangers and Michael Beale 'class' and praises Tillman

Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall hailed Rangers manager Michael Beale for the response to the controversial Malik Tillman strike in an exciting Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox.

The home side progressed to the quarter-final with a 3-2 win but allowed Thistle to score through Scott Tiffoney after the American had scored in surreal circumstances, unaware the away side were about to give the ball back.

"Malik Tillman didn't really realise what was going on,” McCall said. “I don't blame the referee because I'm not sure he can stop it. Then Mick made the decision which I think reflects really well on him and this football club. Allan McGrgeor, I thought, wasn't going to let him put it in the net. I hold no ill-feeling towards Malik Tillman whatsoever.

"I've been in football since 1981 and I've never seen anything like it before.

"I think I'd have done it if I'm being honest. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if we had won 3-2 but he made the decision and I think it was the right one. I think sometimes a bit of class is going out of football but that showed it [class].”

McCall was full of praise for his team’s first-half performance when they went ahead from the penalty spot.

“I was very proud of our players and supporters today but we are here to win a game of football and we didn't do it," he said. “I thought the first half we were terrific and we executed everything we wanted them to do.

"Rangers were better in the second half. Tillman, he can play. He really can play.”