6 hours ago
4
Rangers' Jack Butland admits he finds it "difficult to accept" the decision not to send off Auston Trusty in Sunday's Scottish League Cup semi-final, while the Celtic defender insists he merely "tapped" the goalkeeper.
Trusty's boot appeared to connect with Butland's head, with referee Nick Walsh issuing a yellow card, while there was no VAR intervention.
The ruling left Rangers "concerned about the consistency of refereeing", with Celtic going on to win 3-1 in extra-time.
"Was there a massive amount of malice involved?" Butland asked. "Not necessarily. You'd like to think that you're protected, in a sense, from things like that.
"Seeing it afterwards, it was perhaps later than I thought in real time as well. So, a difficult one to accept.
"Difficult to accept that that's perhaps a precedent that is going to continue if that's a similar situation against any team, regardless of who it is.
"Obviously, with the addition of all the assistance that the referees perhaps get nowadays, we can only hope moving forward that the right decisions get made and it stays as fair as it possibly can."
Trusty spoke later in the day, explaining: "I didn't think much of it, I'm apologetic and you see my hands [going up] to say I'm sorry.
"It doesn't matter, rivalry or whatever it is, it's not the kind of human I am."
The USA international was the sponsors' player of the match at Hampden and added: "I tapped him, I didn't boot him in the head.
"I didn't actually mean it, you could see my demeanour and my reaction to tapping him on the head.
"No one means to boot somebody in the head or kick somebody in the head, I tapped him in the head, that's all it was.
"It's just Rangers and Celtic. No matter whatever side has a positive result, the other side is going to say whatever and it's just how football works in this country and from this rivalry, I don't think you can really escape that."
Butland was speaking after Rangers suffered their fourth Europa League defeat of the campaign in the 2-0 home loss to Roma.
It's a result which leaves them bottom of the table with no points, having now lost their past seven European matches.
"We can't accept where we're at right now," he explained. "It's something that we need to take personally and something that we need to do better in the remaining four games and see where that takes us.
"It's a difficult time, but it's one where you have an opportunity to stand up. The club's always going to be under the microscope. It's about sticking your chest out and getting on with it and standing up to the challenge and being better.
"I think it's an opportunity for us to do with this group is to prove a lot of people wrong."
