Toyosi Olusanya reckons St Mirren were unfortunate not to leave Govan with something to show for their efforts after Rangers triumphed 2-1 winners on Sunday.
Rangers' Mohamed Diomande and Vaclav Cerny netted either side of Alex Gogic's consolation to ensure that the visitors lost their fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership match.
Olusanya was a constant handful throughout the 90 minutes and knows his team left everything out on the Ibrox pitch.
"We're definitely frustrated," he stated. "This is a tough place to come and they are a really good team but I thought the boys dug deep.
"We put everything on the line and it's just unfortunate not to get something out of the game."
The 27-year-old believes St Mirren should've been awarded a penalty in the second half when he was found inside the box by Rangers' Neraysho Kasanwirjo.
Referee Callum Scott claimed to have played advantage despite Olusanya being knocked off balance and falling to the ground. Yet his decision not to go to the VAR monitor baffled those in St Mirren colours.
Read more:
- Rangers test perfect time for St Mirren to 'reset', says Stephen Robinson
- Stephen Robinson believes St Mirren created more chances than most at Ibrox
"The ref said he played the advantage at first but, looking back, I think it was a penalty," he explained. "We can't control the referees' decisions but it's unfortunate.
"They said they checked it so there must not have been enough to go to the screen."
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson shone the light on Olusanya after the full-time whistle and claimed his side created more opportunities than most against the Glasgow giants.
The Buddies striker was asked about giving Rangers centre-backs Robin Propper and Leon Balogun a tough afternoon, and said: "Regardless of whether it is Rangers or another team, you want to play your game. As players, you have to believe you can go to any place and get a result.
"After what happened last week, it was important there was a reaction and we showed we are a good team.
"It didn't end up the way we wanted it to but there are a lot of positives.
"I think after a bad run of games, sometimes people can get too down. You start to think you're not doing well or the squad's not what it is.
"We have to get back to doing what we do best and that is being hard to beat, being hard to break down and pressing with intensity.
Read more:
- Lewis Ferguson named in Bologna squad: A return from six-month injury
- Aberdeen vs Rangers referee and VAR officials confirmed by SFA
"In the second half of last season, there were a lot of important points to play for and I think we picked up quite a few of them.
"It's not been a great period for us but we know things can change. Maybe a result in the next couple of games takes us from where we are now to potentially the top six and we can just kick on from there."
Olusanya understands that St Mirren needed a positive showing following a 4-0 drubbing from Heart of Midlothian last time out - and he's glad they almost delivered.
He continued: "We all looked at ourselves and know we didn't give our best, we didn't set our press and we didn't play our game.
"Regardless of the result, we said we were going to come here and play the way we play, press the way we press and show everyone we can give a reaction.
"There was a belief we could get something and even when we went 2-1 down, there were a few waves of attacks.
"We made it hard for them to clear their box and we were just unlucky at the end of the day."
