CALLUM DAVIDSON was proud of the effort of his St Johnstone players despite suffering a 3-0 defeat at Ibrox.

The Saints competed well during the first half but found themselves two goals behind at the break as Borna Barisic curled home a superb free-kick and Ryan Kent finished off a neat move.

When Joe Aribo made it 3-0 just after the interval with a near post header, there was no way back into the game for the visitors.

Davidson took his side to Ibrox on the back of a free weekend after their game with Aberdeen was called off due to the Coronavirus breaches within the Pittodrie squad.

And the new Perth boss insists there were positives to take from his first defeat in the dugout.

He said: “I was really pleased with the first half – or should I say first 45 minutes, because we lost a goal in the 46th.

“There was one lapse of concentration from David when he gave away a free-kick for the first goal. You can’t give away stupid free-kicks at Ibrox. He knows that himself.

“I thought we limited Rangers to very few chances in that first half but we went in 2-0 down.

“The message was to not concede early doors in the second half but we lost a goal to a set-play and the game was over.

“What I would say is my players never gave up.

“You could see that they were running about and creating chances right up until the end.

“I’m pleased with a lot of things and I can’t be too disappointed.

“It’s a difficult one [not having a game last weekend]. Match sharpness comes with games. But I won’t make excuses because I actually thought we performed well today.

“We’ve got a big game on Saturday against Kilmarnock.”