Rangers manager Walter Smith gave full credit to Old Firm derby rivals Celtic after they scored an impressive 3-0 win in the league on Sunday. Gary Hooper's first-half double was complimented by a late Kris Commons goal as the Hoops went eight points clear at the top of the SPL table.

Smith said his side were simply not good enough but ensured he took nothing away from the performance given by Celtic on their home pitch at Parkhead.

"We are better than what we showed today but give credit to Celtic as well," he said.

"They capitalised on our errors to get in front and overall deserved to win. We never really started the game at all. Our defending was poor and our possession was poor.

"All in all, it was as poor a performance as we have had against Celtic since I came back. We deserved no better than we got.

"I don't think you can say our team lacks belief or character because our team has been playing well over the last few years so I don't think it was anything to do with that.

"It was a poor performance from our point of view and we are disappointed about that. We didn't look as though we had the necessary edge and that was a worrying factor for us."