United win leaves Smith to rue flaws

The Scottish champions squandered a golden opportunity to move top of the table on Saturday for the first time since Boxing Day.

With Celtic's game at Inverness postponed, a win over Dundee United would have seen Rangers leapfrog their rivals to the summit.

Instead, they were twice pegged back as goals from Nikica Jelavic and Steven Naismith were cancelled out by David Robertson and Johnny Russell before David Goodwillie grabbed a late winner to seal a 3-2 win for United.

Smith said: "It was obviously a disappointing result from us. Our performance wasn't bad at different times of the game in terms of our possession of the ball and passing.

"Dundee United were very tidy and played very well at times of the game as well and I thought it was a decent match.

"We are just really disappointed that we got ourselves in front and then lost a bad goal in the last minute of the first half. We managed to get in front again and, just when Dundee United were changing and having to push players forward, we managed to lose another goal.

"Looking at the game, the opportunities they had really were the chances they scored. It was disappointing for us defensively.

"Losing goals in the last minute of the first half and of the game was the worst aspect of it. What we have to adjust to is the fact we have lost goals after getting in front on a number of occasions, instead of having the toughness to handle that situation."

Goodwillie, a one-time target of Rangers, signed a new contract extension with United last week and says they merited at least a draw at Ibrox.

He said: "I think we deserved something from the game - whether it was one point or three points.

"We worked hard and we came back twice from being a goal down and not many teams do that at Ibrox."

The striker has been forced to play with a serious sexual assault charge hanging over him for several months and added: "When I cross that line, that's my escape. I feel safe on the pitch."