SPL Hindered Us
From Andrew Dickson in Manchester
CARLOS CUELLAR says the SPL's failure to give Rangers more time to prepare for the UEFA Cup final played a major part in their loss to Zenit St Petersburg.
The Light Blues asked for last Saturday's league meeting with Dundee United to be postponed so that they had a week to get ready for the match in Manchester.
But their request was turned down and they had just four days to rest and recover between their 3-1 win and the clash with Dick Advocaat's men.
Carlos CuellarIn contrast, tonight's victors had 13 full days between matches and the fact they were far fresher than Gers contributed to their 2-0 success.
Cuellar, who was outstanding in defence once more, said: "We have had too many games in such a short space of time and it is crazy.
"Today we had a very good chance to win a European trophy but the SPL did not want to help us.
"I don't understand why that was and if we had not played Dundee United on Saturday, I think we would have looked more comfortable.
"We would have had more recovery time for this match and I think we would have been able to create more chances when we attacked.
"We would have been able to come forward a little faster but as it was, I think we looked a little tired going upfield and we didn't have a lot of opportunities to score.
"This season, I think I have played 62 games and in Spain, I would maybe play 38 or 40 times in a year.
"All we needed was the SPL to help us make history by extending the season by one week only but I don't know why they didn't want to help us win this trophy."