Decisions go against Rangers too, says Walter Smith

RANGERS manager Walter Smith insists Celtic are not the only victims of refereeing decisions going against them.

Celtic have appealed the red card picked up by Scott Brown during Sunday's Old Firm derby, which Rangers won thanks to a late Maurice Edu goal.

But Smith claims the Scottish champions were also denied a penalty during the clash at Ibrox, when Edu appeared to be fouled in the box by Andreas Hinkel.

Despite those decisions, the Rangers manager praised the overall performance of referee Dougie McDonald after the game.

He also used his post-match press conference to hit out at the unnamed Celtic source who revealed the club's unhappiness with refereeing decisions this season just days before the crucial match. "Because of what happened prior to the game I think it was always going to be the case that people would focus on decisions in Sunday's match," said Smith.

"Everything is highlighted in the Old Firm game from the referee's performance to each player's performance and you just have to accept that.

"Decisions go against us at times, despite what everyone else seems to be saying. We should have had a penalty, for example, when Maurice Edu was taken down in the box.

"However, the main thing from our point of view was our performance in the second half."

The dramatic late winner allowed Rangers to restore their ten-point lead at the summit of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and put a massive dent in Celtic's own title hopes.

But Smith was unhappy at the lack of credit given to his players. "I think we showed we can play well and I'm disappointed that this never gets mentioned," he lamented.

"All we ever hear is that Rangers dig out a result and do this and that but in that second half we played very well, passed the ball well and created a number of chances. We kept a team that have tremendous attacking players back in their own half albeit we had the benefit when Celtic went down to 10 men halfway through that period."

Tony Mowbray, however, admits he felt his Celtic side had not had their "fair share" of decisions this season even before having Brown sent off at Ibrox.

"You just want the big decisions to be correct in matches and we probably have felt some of them haven't gone our way this season," Mowbray said.

"People talk about having your fair share of decisions and we felt there was a bit to come our way. I haven't watched it again yet, but everyone seems to think it was a harsh decision.

"I think, as the game opened up in the last 20 minutes or so, we would have undoubtedly got more chances and I would like to think with the quality we have in forward areas we would have created some opportunities to win the game."

Mowbray added: "In the first half I thought we were okay. Our concentration defensively was good; we were the team in the ascendancy and probably had the best opportunities.

"So at half-time we were confident and were hoping to go out there and finish off the job.

"Rangers started the second half on the front foot and had a bit more drive about them. But while they were on the front foot, I felt we were reasonably comfortable and waiting for our opportunities later on and believed we could win the game really.

"The sending-off, however, changed everything and it became an exercise in not losing the match at that point."