Everything that Celtic skipper Callum McGregor said to the media after Celtic's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

Your thoughts on the performance of your team today?

Both teams were going for it. There was not much in the game at all. It was fine margins. We have to accept that we did not do enough over the piece of the game. We have to accept that.

The manager said something similar and that after Rangers scored the second you lost your way a bit - what do you put that down to?

Just experience from the group I think. Being in those situations and understanding how to handle it and stick to your beliefs and strick to the way you want to play. It is difficult and you have to respect that. We are a new group and we are always trying to get better and pushing to be better individually and as a collective and experiences like that will no doubt make us stronger.

The team's performances have been attributed to intensity and creativity there was not a lot of that today and it seemed to be missing don't you think?

I think both teams played with a fear of losing the game as it was a big semi-final and you can understand that. You can understand the psychological aspect of that. That is why we have been so good as we have been really aggressive and got after teams and played our football. You probably put that down to the experience of the game and the experience of the group and we have to accept that we are not the finished article. We know that. We are always trying to push to be better and this is our first season and things like that will make us stronger moving forward.

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Greg Taylor goal and Callum McGregor efforts not enough to keep treble tilt on track

Did Rangers surprise you after Thursday as they came out the traps flying and were consistent throughout the game?

To be fair they looked strong and it did not really surprise me, to be honest as we have played two to three games a week for numerous years and sometimes when you are in the rhythm it is a little bit better with match sharpness and everything else so that didn't surprise at all. They are obviously in a good moment and we did not play to our potential. Having said that we can still win the game 2-0. That is disappointing especially as we go 1-0 up and don't see the game out and move on from there. Again this is a learning curve for the group of players and everyone at the club moving forward and these experiences will make us better.

You got the players together in a huddle at the end was that important to reinforce that message?

Absolutely. We have had a great season so far and we are in a really positive position with five games to go it's important we do not let one result affect the whole season as we have put ourselves in a really good position with a lot of hard work, sacrifice, dedication and a lot of good football and a lot of strength within the group. It is important that we don't lose that and these types of games cup semi-finals are always on a knife-edge and can go either way.

We are disappointed that changing room is not a good place but we have to put that out of our mind and we can still make it a very successful season for the club and ourselves as a group and that will help us grow. It is important that we don't get too downbeat and let everything fall apart after one bad result. We will learn from it and we have to show what we are about next week and that becomes our biggest game of the season as we have to go there and win.