Drey Wright would have been in “excruciating” pain when he injured his ankle in the build-up to Celtic’s winning goal against St Johnstone, according to manager Callum Davidson.
And the gut-wrenching feeling in the home dressing after Saints came so close to securing a heroic point at McDiarmid Park would have come close to matching it.
There was no blame pinned on Wright for pulling up when Ali Crawford tried to pass the ball to him.
The Perth boss felt that his team-mates had time to react and make sure Giorgos Giakoumakis wasn’t able to finish from close range.
And once the post-match disappointment has faded, Davidson and his players will reflect on a fantastic effort against the champions, which nearly peaked with Alex Mitchell’s equaliser less than two minutes earlier.
“I didn’t celebrate the goal because there were still a couple of minutes to go,” said Davidson.
“Drey rolled his ankle but we have to defend better. I thought we stopped a little bit.
“I’ve had it myself. When you roll your ankle the pain is excruciating then it subsides after a couple of minutes.
“But we had to switch on after that. It’s a sore way to lose.
“It’s a hard lesson to take but I’ll take that kind of performance against the Old Firm – the energy, the levels of commitment and the desire to get something from the game.
“I’m gutted for the lads that they didn’t take something from the game.”
Second half surge
Davidson was delighted that his team didn’t fold after Celtic went in front through an Andy Considine own goal.
Stevie May and Connor McLennan both came close to equalising in the second half before Mitchell found the net from close range.
“In the first half I thought we were tactically really good and the boys worked unbelievably hard,” said Davidson.
“Celtic are a fantastic team and if you open up against them they’ll carve you open.
“We managed the game pretty well.
“It was a poor time to lose a goal – just before half-time – and our heads could quiet easily have gone down.
“But we told them that if we stay in the game as long as we can, we’ll get chances.
“The supporters got behind us and were fantastic – they understood the situation.
“The substitutes helped us and we had a real go in the second half.”
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