Livingston boss David Martindale admits he would have reacted the same way as his Rangers counterpart Steven Gerrard after the Gers were denied a first half penalty in last night's clash.
Alfredo Morelos netted the only goal of the game in the 87th minute at the Tony Macaroni Arena but earlier in the game had been booked for diving by referee John Beaton after being brought down by Livi keeper Max Stryjek inside the box.
Gerrard's protestations towards the whistler as the teams walked off at half-time earned the boss two yellow cards in quick succession.
But Martindale admits his side got away with one as the visitors were denied a 'stonewall' penalty.
He said: "We got away with one in the first half with a stonewall penalty so I could understand Steven’s reaction. I’d have been the same. Your emotions are high.
“John didn’t mean to make a bad decision but your emotions take over and I can understand 100 per cent Steven’s frustrations.”
Despite the defeat, Martindale was full of praise for the performance that came just days after the disappointment of losing the Betfred Cup final.
He commented: "The performance was there from the boys, they were fantastic up until Rangers scored.
“You won’t dominate the ball against the Glasgow clubs, especially Rangers who have been fantastic this year, so you have to go in with a game plan.
“It worked for 95 per cent of the match as we forced them into a lot of long, straight balls.
"We made a few chances ourselves as well and Max never really had a lot to do. It was all bog standard stuff. He should probably do a wee bit better with the goal but I'm proud of the boys because the performance was fantastic and they stuck to the game plan."
Striker Gavin Reilly suffered a first-half injury and Martindale added: “Gavin is sore. It looks like a hamstring.
“It’s probably six to eight weeks but you don’t know with these things. We don’t know what grade of hamstring injury it is and we won’t find out until the inflammation settles down.”
