Scottish football: 'Poor Hampden pitch helped us' says Rangers defender Richard Foster

Rangers defender Richard Foster admits the poor condition of the Hampden pitch may have saved his side from a heavier defeat against Celtic on Sunday.

The state of the playing surface at Scotland’s national stadium was a major talking point over the weekend when it hosted both semi-final ties of the Scottish League Cup.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila claimed the turf was not up to standard after his side beat Rangers 2-0 to set up a final date with Dundee United, who saw off Aberdeen 2-1 at the same venue 24 hours earlier.

And Foster believes the rutted surface may have allowed Rangers - who did not have one shot on goal during the 90 minutes - to limit the damage.

"We've watched videos of them at Parkhead and they do move the ball quickly," he said. "But with the pitch being like it was, it might have slowed them down a little bit and helped us.

Opportunity

"They still moved the ball relatively well and that is where we let ourselves down, especially in the first half. Our ball retention was not what is should have been. But, at the end of the day, we gave away bad goals and that cost us."

Despite the loss, Forster admits he enjoyed the games and would relish the opportunity to face their Glasgow rivals on a regular basis.

The 29-year-old former Aberdeen defender said: "You hear the fans and the cheer you get, it’s amazing. Both sets of fans were great and I thought the game was played in the right spirit.

"It just makes you want more of those types of games. We've got to get promotion at the end of the season for that to happen but tasting games like that just makes us more determined.

"These games are the ones you want to play in. It's one of the biggest derbies in the world. We know we want this again so it's back to the league now and we need to make sure we get promoted."