Barry Ferguson breaks silence on painful Celtic defeat in Tennent’s Sixes final

Barry Ferguson has admitted his disappointment at Rangers’ Tennent’s Sixes final defeat to Celtic, insisting the loss has only made him more determined to return next year.

The former Ibrox captain and manager watched his side surrender a two-goal advantage twice as Celtic fought back to secure a dramatic 5-4 victory at Braehead.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Tom Boyd’s side, who had suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Rangers in the group stage just 24 hours earlier.

However, Celtic responded in emphatic fashion, overturning 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to claim the trophy and spark jubilant celebrations among the former Hoops players.

The intensity of the rivalry was evident after the final whistle, with footage of Rangers players arguing in their dressing room circulating on social media.

Ferguson has now reflected on the defeat, admitting his players were devastated after coming so close to lifting the trophy.

Speaking on the 5 Stars Podcast, he said: “One thing I will say about the group of boys: their attitude was brilliant. They were desperate to win. You could see it after the game; there was a wee bit of emotion, a lot of disappointment.

“But listen, they ran themselves into the ground, we just ran out of steam a wee bit, and then we made a couple of mistakes which we hadn’t done in the previous games.

“It only makes you more determined – if it comes along next year, don’t worry, we’ll have another good go at it. It was a brilliant weekend, brilliant to see a lot of the boys. I hadn’t played with some of them, just to see what it meant to them to put that Rangers shirt on.

“We were looked after, we had a good time, just a disappointment obviously losing in the final. And then a couple of things happened after the game which will stick in my mind. We move on.”