John Lundstram admits Rangers cannot endure another season of frustration like this one after their last chance of silverware disappeared with a 1-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat against Celtic.
The Light Blues, who went into the game at Hampden Park as cup holders, were punished just before the break for failing to play to the whistle, with Daizen Maeda crossing for Jota to head in the only goal of the game.
Rangers have failed to beat their Old Firm rivals in their last six meetings and effectively the Hoops need only beat Championship side Inverness in the June 3 final to complete the domestic treble.
Midfielder Lundstram said: “We’re disappointed. I thought we played really well for large spells of the game.
“But we’ve just got to find that bit of quality in the final third and at the other end mistakes let us down again.
“The ball is still in play and the ref hasn’t blown his whistle. We’ve got to play to the whistle. It’s our mistake again. That’s disappointing.
“It’s frustrating for everyone but going forward into next season we’ve really, really got to nail it down because we can’t have another season like this season.
“We all want to win, we all want to do the right things, of course we do. But decision-making at times has got to be better.
“It’s let us down, not just today but on numerous occasions. All the lads have got to rally round and have a big, big push now for the start of the season.”
Lundstram insists there is belief in the dressing room that they can beat Celtic and they will get another chance when they host the Hoops in the final Old Firm league game at Ibrox in two weeks’ time.
He said: “You saw out there that there was a belief. We were the better team for large spells.
“We had one cleared off the line, hit the post, missed an open goal with Fashion (Sakala).
“So the belief is there but it’s just the fine margins. They are getting the fine margins better at the minute.
“At the end of the day we’ve got to finish those chances that we created.
“We’re getting in the right positions, it’s just not falling for us. It’s just frustrating for us at the minute and it’s still raw for me.
“Going forward, we need to start winning these Old Firm games. It’s no secret.
“Just really disappointed but of course going into the next one, those fine margins I’ve just spoken about, we can get them in our favour.”
