James Tavernier has revealed what Philippe Clement told him as a defeated Rangers team trudged off the Celtic Park pitch.
The Ibrox skipper, 32, was again influential in the match and scored a stunning free-kick to pull the game back to 2-1 for the 10-man Teds.
But that strike could not halt Rangers falling to a first defeat under Philippe Clement with Celtic celebrating a second Old Firm victory of the season.
Speaking after the match, James Tavernier was asked what Philippe Clement whispered in his ear come full-time and the Rangers captain claimed it was something of a post-match pep talk.
James Tavernier on Philippe Clement comments
Rangers put in a spirited display at Parkead but Celtic’s ruthlessness was the difference as the Gers’ shot shy players once again failed to deliver amid 90 minutes of questionable refereeing.
Explaining that Philippe Clement gave him a post-match reality check, James Tavernier told a listening press conference what the Rangers manager said to him.
“Yeah it was obviously a difficult one to take,” said Tavernier.
“You can be proud of how we played and what we did throughout the duration of the game and we keep moving.”
Rangers captain calls out “questionable” refereeing
The Ibrox captain was also asked about the controversial Alistair Johnston handball penalty call in the first half of the Scottish Premiership clash.
The Celtic right-back blatantly hand balled the ball away from Abdallah Sima with VAR not even sending the incident for review.
A questionable offside still was then shown later in the game with major flaws in the SFA argument in the face of the call.
James Tavernier branded the decision “strange” and called out the “questionable” refereeing of the match.
“It was a bit of a strange one,” said Tavernier. “Thinking obviously it’s a penalty, it doesn’t get checked and it’s an offside and yeah, a lot of confusion with what was going on.
“I think it was a day when there were a lot of decisions that were questionable today.”
Celtic ran out winners at Parkhead courtesy of goals from Paolo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi, with James Tavernier’s stunning free-kick unable to prevent defeat.
Celtic go eight points clear in the Scottish Premiership although Rangers have two games in hand on their eternal rivals.
