Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou praised his opposite number Robbie Neilson for the way his Hearts side played in their 3-1 loss to the Hoops on Wednesday evening.
With the Jambos third in the Scottish Premiership, the Australian knew that his much-rotated squad would face a difficult challenge under the lights in the east end of Glasgow with the race for third-place heating up. His challenge became a lot more difficult after just six minutes, when Josh Ginnelly slotted home to stun a wowed home crowd; though as Celtic do, they netted three without reply to continue their 100 per cent domestic record at home so far this season.
But nonetheless, and with a Scottish Cup tie re-run at Tynecastle on Sunday, the Hoops boss praised Hearts for the way in which they turned up at the league leading outfit - labelling Hearts as a 'really good side', especially as they had something to play for.
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Speaking to Celtic TV, Postecoglou said when asked if he thought Hearts would cause them problems: "Absolutely. We knew they would, they're a really good side and again we are getting to that part the season where everyone has something to play for.
"They came at us but I thought we could've handled it better. We got caught up in the excitement of the game, and I thought we needed to settle down about it and gain control of it.
"We had to work hard for it. We didn't get to get into our real sort of groove in terms of our football. Some of that is because I made quite a few changes which disrupted things
"It is difficult for a lot of guys, the two fullbacks haven't played or a while so I have to make allowances for that. The players still showed strong mentality. I thought we scored three great goals."
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