Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis felt his side deserved to take Saturday’s Scottish Cup final into extra time following a gritty and determined display.
A classic Scottish Cup final at Hampden ended in bitter disappointment for the Dons when Tom Rogic scored to complete a domestic treble for Celtic.
Midfielder Jonny Hayes gave Aberdeen an early lead but they were immediately pegged back by Aberdeen-born Stuart Armstrong’s leveller.
The match looked destined for extra time and possibly penalties before Rogic had the final say.
Agony for Aberdeen, ecstasy for Celtic.
Lewis admitted the Dons were left stunned by the painful manner of the defeat.
He said: “Possibly when we reflect on the season we may look back on it as being progress for the club.
“There have been some outstanding performances.
“We have grown as the season went on, but it’s hard to really think on too big a scale right now after what happened to us so late in the match.
“Everyone was bitterly disappointed.
“It was really quiet. We put so much into the game and to get nothing from in the end was hard to take, but the nature of the cup final means there’s a winner and a loser.
“We came in at half time and the message was to continue to do what we were doing and just tweak a few things, but we were playing well.
“We deserved the lead, but didn’t hold on to it long enough.
“If we had held on to it a bit longer then we might have created a bit more pressure and anxiety for Celtic, but they responded well to going 1-0 down.”
The Dons have lost all six matches against Celtic this season but Lewis feels confident they can get closer to Brendan Rodgers’ side next time.
He said: “The first 12 minutes of the last game against them at Pittodrie was a disaster, but after that we were much the better team and showed a lot of signs in that last home game that we could compete.
“We put them under some severe pressure at times and Craig Gordon made a couple of good saves.
“If we had nicked a second goal you never know what might have happened.
“They put us under pressure towards the end, they’re a good team, we defended fantastically but just couldn’t hold out.
“The players put their bodies on the line in the second half and from that point of view deserved more than what we got.”