Neil Lennon expressed extreme disappointment following today’s Glasgow derby defeat at Ibrox, in a performance he said showed dominance from his players. Celtic indeed controlled much of the play in the match before Nir Bitton was shown a straight red in the 61^st minute.

The manager felt this may not have been the correct decision from referee Bobby Madden, which he said changed the course of the game.

“It’s bitterly disappointing, as we were the better team,” said the Irishman in an exclusive interview with Celtic TV. “I thought we were outstanding up until the red card, which I don’t think was a red card, I think it was a poor decision. I’m not convinced (Morelos) is clean through on goal and that changed the course of the game.

“I wouldn’t say that it put it in Rangers’ favour, but it balanced it off and we were in total control. We just felt that the longer the game went on, the way we were playing, we would win the game.

“I think Nir’s got too tight, he doesn’t need to be, and I thought he was superb in the first half. Again, I’m not convinced it’s a red – he might get in and get the shot off but whether or not he’d score from that angle, I don’t know. I think the referee was too quick to get the red card out.”

“We must stay on it from now until the end of the season.”

Neil Lennon praised his side’s performance from back to front in the first hour of play, and said the fact that Allan McGregor was awarded Man of the Match on the day perhaps said more about his players’ display than it did the Rangers goalkeeper.

With three Premiership games in hand, the manager said the champions must, of course, win those matches and be flawless between now and the end of the campaign.

He added: “We were the better team, we dominated, we made them look ordinary, we were far sharper, crisper, quicker, stronger. Guys like Frimpong, Tunrbull, Christie, McGregor, they were all outstanding for the first hour or so. And then you’ve got to rejig things and they get a huge break with the goal as well. Barkas has had nothing to do, he hasn’t had a save to make. Allan McGregor was the stadium Man of the Match, which I think speaks volumes for our performance today.

“We need to win the games in hand and then take it from there. We need to win every game from here on in as best we can. I’m just frustrated that we’ve, maybe, shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in one moment.

“But overall, I’m very proud of the players, I thought they played very, very well. There’s all this talk about Rangers being a dominant team in the last few games, I don’t think that was apparent today.

“We must take the positives from today and use them moving forward, it has to be that way. We’ve got a lot of football to play, but we need to play really well from here and stay on it from now until the end of the season.”

Neil Lennon: We deserved more from a dominant derby display