Ton suffered a flat 4-0 loss to Mark Warburton’s runaway Championship leaders in Sunday’s live BT Sport match at Cappielow.

And although Lamie says there has to be a sense of realism about the result considering Rangers’ quality, he maintained that this Ton team had more to offer than they showed on the day.

The 22-year-old told the Tele: “We were speaking about the game and there’s the obvious need to be realistic and face the facts that there’s a gulf in class.

“They are a very good team.

“We approached it right but I just thought we were a wee bit tentative and I would say we showed them too much respect.

“When you sit off against good players and decent teams you get punished.

“I thought we started alright and looked to get advanced early doors with a few balls in behind, and I thought we did that well.

“But it was a couple of bits of decision-making that cost us, and once you’re two or three down — and they were what we would call soft goals — there wasn’t really any coming back. A couple of goals you take your hat off and say it was a good bit of play, but you give a soft penalty away and then the third goal is a breakaway. It’s soft defensively, and you pay the price.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice in terms of our performance. Against Premiership opposition [Motherwell] last Tuesday night, we knocked the ball about and put on a show.

“And I just think there was that aspect of too much respect shown [to Rangers], and, as the gaffer touched on, there was a wee bit of self-belief lacking on Sunday.

“That’s in terms of thinking to ourselves: ‘I’m going to get the ball down and find a pass’. Whereas we were under the cosh and worried that we couldn’t afford to give it away.

“I 100 per cent think that if we acquitted ourselves better in terms of keeping the ball and using it better when we had it … There was a panicky element to our play.

“I think everybody will point their finger towards the name [of the opposition as the reason why]. The expectations are higher and I don’t know if it was the occasion or whatever.

“But we’ve come up against top sides already this season and done very well: through at Easter Road and against Motherwell the other night.

“That gulf in quality was still there, but we acquitted ourselves well enough to handle it. So I can’t quite understand why [we didn’t repeat that against Rangers].” On an individual level, Lamie admitted it was a demanding 90 minutes attempting to cope with some of the attacking talent that Ibrox boss Mark Warburton has assembled this term.

He explained: “Sometimes you’ve got four or five players flooding forward, leaving you to choose from who to pick up. It’s very difficult to play against.

“Their movement was very good. They found pockets of space to pick the ball up and drive forward, and some of the one-touch football was excellent. It’s hard to play against and there’s no hiding the fact they’re a very good team. They’re up there with the best I’ve played against.

“There’s certainly a big gulf in talent between them now and the last time I played against them, which was almost three years ago in the Third Division [while on loan at Clyde].” Lamie, though, believes that a relatively young Ton squad now have a better understanding of what to expect when they meet the same opposition again on 12 December at Ibrox.

He added: “I think it gives us something for next time and for our League Cup quarter-final tie against another top team in St Johnstone.

“It has given us a clearer picture of what’s required against top teams. It wasn’t a wake-up call as such but a bit of a reminder that you need to be at it. We know what we need to improve on.”