Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen defender Hayden Coulson looks to pick up the pieces following shattering injury time collapse against Rangers

Hayden Coulson on the ball for Aberdeen against Rangers. Image: Shutterstock.
Hayden Coulson on the ball for Aberdeen against Rangers. Image: Shutterstock.

Aberdeen defender Hayden Coulson knows lessons have to be learned following his side’s dramatic injury-time collapse against Rangers.

Jim Goodwin’s side looked to have answered their critics following their meek display against Celtic at the weekend after coming from behind to lead Rangers 2-1 at Pittodrie on Tuesday.

But, with the match into the fifth minute of the seven added on for injury time, the Dons let victory slip from their grasp by conceding not once, but twice in the space of two minutes to lose 3-2.

The look of shock on Coulson’s face said it all.

It was a new experience for the on-loan Middlesbrough left-back and not one he wants to go through again.

He said: “I have never been involved in such a drastic turnaround as that, especially in the short amount of time that it was. That’s a first for me.

“We thought we would see it out. We had no reason not to think that.

Rangers’ Scott Arfield celebrates making it 3-2 against Aberdeen. Image: Craig Williamson/SNS Group

“We did drop a bit deeper than we would have liked to. But I think we have to see that extra time out.”

Dons dejected at late collapse

Coulson could only watch helpless as the dramatic finale unfolded, having been replaced by Jack MacKenzie in the second half with his side leading 2-1.

What was clear, however, was the impact losing the game from a winning position was hard to process.

This was Aberdeen’s personal horror movie replaying in slow motion.

Coulson said: “We definitely did not deserve to lose, that was the one. I think we have to deal with seeing the game out a lot better. I think there were four minutes left. We have to do better at the end.

“I was off the pitch at the time, but I thought seven minutes was a lengthy time.

“Obviously that is their (the officials) job, not mine. We just have to get on with it.

“There was not much said after the game, to be honest. I think everyone is very down and it is still a bit too early to say anything on the performance.”

Ross McCrorie and Ylber Ramadani look dejected at full time. Image: SNS Group

It had all looked so promising for the Dons as the final, few remaining seconds counted down with Duk’s stunning free-kick and a fine Leighton Clarkson strike giving the Dons a deserved 2-1 lead.

Rangers substitute Scott Arfield had other ideas, however, as he struck twice to stun the Dons.

Coulson said: “It is one of them. You need to face the opposition on the day.

“Every team is set up differently. This was a sore one in the end as we did well throughout the game.

“It just wasn’t ideal at the end.

“It was not the best way to obviously end it. It was a crazy game.”

Positives to be found despite the result

A win against Rangers would have been the perfect riposte following criticism of the team’s failure to trouble Celtic at all three days earlier and, amid the despair felt at full-time, Coulson knows there are positives to be found.

He said: “Credit to Duk. He called it before he hit it to be fair. Full credit to him.

“We just need to work on stuff like that, keeping the momentum high, which I thought we did well in spells. We kept them quiet. We just need to finish off better.

“There were positives. We were 2-1 up at the end of the day.

“There were things we could do better, there were chances we could have created, but it is just one of them – at the end of the day we need to come away with at least something from the game.

“We will analyse it on Thursday and go from there.”

Aberdeen’s Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes fires his free-kick into the top corner to make it 1-1 against Rangers. Image: Rob Casey/SNS Group

Digesting a second defeat of the season by Rangers is going to take time.

But with the teams due to meet again at Hampden in the semi-final of the League Cup on January 15, Coulson insists the performance, if not the result, shows the Dons can challenge Michael Beale’s side for a place in the final.

He said: “It gives us a boost, especially as there is a cup semi-final coming up.

“It gives us a bit more of an incentive to have a go now and we know how to play against them.

“It will be a good game again I am sure.”

Conversation