Derek McInnes admitted his Rangers side were left deflated after a defensive error allowed Dundee to snatch a 2-2 draw at Dens Park, ending their hopes of moving top of the table.
The Ibrox side arrived in Tayside on a run of seven straight victories, but dropped two crucial points after an error-strewn display. Bradley Fink gave Stephen Pressley's side a deserved lead seven minutes before half-time, but goals from Badredine Bouanani and Nicolas Raskin either side of the break looked to have turned the game around. However, a mistake from skipper Dan Neil allowed Welshman Callum Jones to slot home the equaliser, denying Rangers the chance to go top ahead of Celtic and Hearts' Sunday meeting at Parkhead.
Manager's frustration
McInnes said: "We spoke before the game to the players about the need to defend. Defenders needed to be good defenders. We knew Dundee would mix the game up, they would come after us on full press."
He added: "We also knew that we had to use the ball and move the ball quicker. The reason for the change was to try and get Bouanani's and Djeidi Gassama against their wide players because we knew that their centre half would jump to go and follow Minsu Kim."
Missed opportunities
Despite dominating for long spells, McInnes felt his side failed to make their superiority count. He said: "We never really got back to that same level. Although we did have enough balls in their box to score. We should be scoring."
He continued: "With some of the stats and some of the touches we had, we should be scoring more than two goals a night. So a combination of that and us also coming away from home, should they need to score three goals to win a game of football. I thought Dundee were good value."
Costly mistake
Bouanani had justified his selection by curling a fine strike past Owen Goodman, while Raskin's 25-yard effort came in off the underside of the bar. But it was Neil's error that proved decisive.
McInnes said: "The second goal is a mistake. Listen, I'm not going to criticise any of my players for it, but it is a mistake and it was difficult to say anything other than that, because we were so good in the game and you've just never seen a way back in for Dundee at that time."
He added: "What it does do, it kills your momentum, first of all, because football's not just a physical game, but mentally. But it also gives Dundee something to hang on to. All of a sudden Dundee are thinking, we might just get something here."
Despite the setback, McInnes insisted his team remained the dominant side. He said: "We still have two wide players and two strikers. We still got enough balls in the box. We still had opportunities. We still made them defend. So although we didn't quite get to the same sort of level, I still thought we were the dominant team and we were the team that looked more likely to win it."
