Ange Postecoglou accuses Celtic players of 'accepting their fate' against Rangers as he bemoans derby performance

Ange Postecoglou accused his Celtic players of accepting defeat to Rangers in the last Old Firm derby of the season at Ibrox.

The Hoops gaffer was disappointed with the champions’ display as Michael Beale’s men ran out easy 3-0 winners. Postecoglou’s side have been superb in securing their second successive title. But the Parkhead boss - who is renowned for his ‘we never stop’ mantra - says his team took their foot off the gas in Govan.

Afterwards, he said: “In the second half, I just felt we almost accepted our fate rather than going out there and trying to change the course of the game. They’re human beings and they’ve had an outstanding season. We had the euphoria of winning the league last week and it was weird winning it - then having to play away again. You don’t really get the chance to appreciate the moment. But welcome to Celtic. That’s the expectation here and it’s not going to change.

“It was a disappointing performance today and a disappointing outcome. There were a couple of moments in the first when he should have scored but never really got that foot-hold. And in the second half, we just never made an impact. There was a bit of desperation about us trying to get into the game.”

Celtic’s biggest chance of the first half fell to South Korean striker Oh, who hit the post after being teed up by Liel Abada. Postecoglou says his back-up front-man has to be more like top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi - and not allow himself to get down after missing an opportunity.

The manager said: “The Oh chance is a big moment. If we could have hit back straight after Rangers scored, it would have taken a bit of momentum out of them. The big man should probably have put it away. He hit the post so it wasn’t far off.

“But it’s a