JACK Butland has defended his positioning at Celtic’s second goal in the 3-0 defeat Rangers suffered at Parkhead yesterday - and his overall performance during the William Hill Premiership match.
However, the former England goalkeeper has admitted that he was bitterly disappointed to concede three goals to the Scottish champions and stressed that he will assess his personal display and attempt to improve going forward.
Butland was heavily criticised when Kyogo Furuhashi picked the ball up inside the visitors’ half midway five minutes before half-time, advanced unchallenged and then slotted into his bottom right corner.
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However, he has watched the strike back and feels he was where he should have been when the Japanese striker received the ball from his Celtic team mate Greg Taylor.
Asked if he would analyse his own display, Butland said: “Always, always. I'm pleased with my performance. You never enjoy conceding goals. You always look back at everything.
“I looked at my position on the second one. I think I'm in a position which is suitable for where we were at in the game, being in possession of the ball. In giving the ball away, I'm trying to get back to my optimal position where I want to be in that moment. And perhaps a little bit I didn't quite get back to where I wanted to get to, ideally.
“I analyse things. I look at things. Am I happy with everything else I did? Am I happy with how I supported the team? Am I happy with how I supported from behind and helped the team build up? Yes.
“But at the end of the day, we've not got the result we wanted. And if that's something I need to look at, I will do, as the rest of the squad will do.”
Asked if the early shot which Furuhashi took had caught him unawares, he said: “It was no surprise. You could see he was shaping up for it.
“As I said, my optimal position was where I wanted to get back to. I didn't get the opportunity to get there with us turning over the ball. Again, I'll look at it again.
“Could I have been somewhere different to start with? Have I got after it as well as I possibly could do from the position I was in? I have seen it back. Yes, I'm disappointed with it as I would be with conceding any other goal.”
