St Mirren defender David Barron admitted his side were naive to leave themselves open to Kenny Miller's sucker punch during their heartbreaking Co-operative Insurance Cup final defeat against nine-man Rangers.

Despite enjoying the better of the game before Kevin Thomson and Danny Wilson were sent off, Saints struggled to break Rangers down during the final 20 minutes. And they paid the price when Miller headed home in the 84th minute after Steven Naismith had surged down the right flank when a Saints move broke down on the edge of the box.

"With them being down to nine men, it sounds a bit stupid, but it made them more resilient," Barron said.

"They stuck together and thought 'let's get together and be hard to break down'. They just sat off and we couldn't break them down.

"The onus was on us to go and get the winner because they were down to nine men.

"We felt as if we had to attack all the time and we felt we could win it in the 90 minutes, which was maybe a bit naive because I think Rangers would have tired more than us and, if it went to extra time, we would have fancied our chances."

Barron was so disillusioned after the final whistle that he went straight down the tunnel and had to be called back by manager Gus MacPherson to collect his loser's medal.

"I just let my emotions get the better of me," the 22-year-old said.

"I can't really say how I felt at the end of the game, I was just gutted.

"Words can't describe it so there wasn't an awful lot said in the dressing-room."