RANGERS midfielder Josh Windass admits he has no excuse for his Hampden no-show.
The former Accrington Stanley playmaker made his first start in over a month as Gers faced Celtic in Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final.
But it was a drab display from the youngster as the Light Blues fell to Moussa Dembele’s last-gasp winner.
Windass had been hoping to match his performance on his Old Firm debut last month, when Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers picked the 22-year-old out at full-time to congratulate him on his showing despite the Ibrox side suffering a 5-1 hammering.
Since that Parkhead clash, however, Windass has spent four weeks nursing a hamstring injury.
He received just a brief 20-minute run out against Inverness last week before being thrust back into action against the Hoops.
But he could not repeat his bright display and was hooked by boss Mark Warburton with 20 minutes remaining.
However, Windass refused to blame his off day on his injury woes.
He said: “Sunday was probably the worst I’ve played since I’ve been here, which is disappointing.
“I’d love to have played better but some days you just don’t turn up. Unfortunately for me Sunday was one of those days.
“It was my first start since coming back from being injured. I’ve had a hamstring injury but I wouldn’t have played in a big game like that if I wasn’t fit. I was fit so I’ve no excuses.
“I just think on the ball I wasn’t my usual self. I gave simple passes away. I couldn’t say why that was. I’m just disappointed in my performance.”
Hoops defender Erik Sviatchenko claims Rangers have made no inroads on closing the gap with the champions since last month’s Parkhead pasting – but Windass disagreed.
He said: “The scoreline is not good enough but way better than losing 5-1.
“The performance on Sunday was dogged but we weren’t as good on the ball as we’d have wanted to be. Off it though we were quite resilient.
“We made blocks and tackles which is not what people expect of this Rangers team. That’s a good thing because it shows a different side to us.
“But on the ball we weren’t our usual selves which was disappointing. They were the better team on the day.”
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