DEREK McINNES was furious with a refereeing decision which went against his side at Rugby Park.
The Kilmarnock boss insists Cyriel Dessers‘ goal, which made it 2-2, should never have stood following a “bad decision” in the build-up.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes on the touchline[/caption]
McInnes and Barry Ferguson pre-match[/caption]
Dessers, 30, levelled the tie for Rangers in Ayrshire after Barry Ferguson‘s men fell two goals behind in the first half and Vaclav Cerny pulled one back before the break.
The stunning strike from the Nigerian hitman helped spark the heroic comeback in Ferguson’s Gers dugout debut.
Dessers added a second to his tally less than 10 minutes later and Nedim Bajrami rounded off the scoring to make it 4-2.
But fuming McInnes, 53, took aim at the matchday officials for allowing Dessers’ first goal to stand.
He’s adamant the striker should never have even had the chance – because he claims awarding the corner in the lead up was the wrong call.
He said: “We scored two good goals and could have had a third.
“But we made a bad decision for their first goal and then the second goal came from a corner that should never have been given.
“Don Robertson didn’t give it and was then overruled by his linesman – it was madness.
“We gave it a shot but we became a bit excitable in moments when we needed to be calm.
“The top six is going to be tight but we need to still strive for that and be ambitious.”
On his own team’s performance, Ferguson said: “For the first half hour, I was wondering at times if the players were listening to information.
“Kilmarnock missed a chance at 2-0 and I felt the penny dropped for the team after that.
“They started to do what we asked and after getting the goal back, they were exceptional.
“It’s easy to fold and that’s been aimed at them this season. I spoke about character and desire and that’s what they showed me. I have to praise them.
Ferguson celebrates with Rangers fans at full-time[/caption]
“But it’s only one game. The journey starts now. That’s the way I want them to play going forward.
“The players showed heart, desire and character and I think that’s been missing the last few months.
“In the second 45, they were excellent.
“It was a proud moment. To live the dream, to play for the club you support then captain them and manage them. It’s a bit surreal but after 15 minutes I was wondering what was going on!
“I was enjoying the ambassador role. It’s less stressful!”
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