A disappointed John Kennedy again lamented Celtic’s prowess in front of goal following today’s derby defeat at Ibrox, while maintaining he was pleased with his side’s overall work-rate in the face of their numerical disadvantage.

Callum McGregor was shown a second yellow card after 26 minutes for a foul committed in the build-up to the home side's opener, which the interim manager said changed the complexion of the game.

“We’re disappointed, obviously, the result is a sore one for us,” John Kennedy told Celtic TV. “The sending off puts you on the back foot, and Rangers scored at the same time as the sending off which set us back.

‘That made things very difficult for us, going one nil down and down to 10 men meant you’re always fighting against that.’

“Again, when the ball came into the box at times, we didn’t defend it well enough and Rangers were decisive. And even when we created our chances we weren’t quite clinical enough again. We just have to take that one on the chin.”

The interim manager said positives from the game included the return of James Forrest and Mikey Johnston from injury, despite his overall disappointment. He also questioned the consistency of the referee’s decision-making over the course of the match, and said going down to 10 men at the same time as conceding the first goal was a blow.

He added: “That’s what I’m most disappointed with. That made things very difficult for us, going one nil down and down to 10 men meant you’re always fighting against that.

“The boys worked hard, we were brave with the ball in the second half, we created chances. But, again, in decisive moments Rangers took their chances and we didn’t.

“Our general play is fine. We need to stop conceding soft goals, but we had so many chances. I’ve seen us in other seasons where we’ve created as many and we’re scoring three and four in each game, we’re really clinical.

“But, again, that’s part of our process of working and trying to get back to that. It’s a sore one today, but we need to take on the chin and pick ourselves up for the last two games.”

John Kennedy: We created chances but weren’t clinical