ANGE POSTECOGLOU has hailed the grit of his Celtic team after they left it late in Dingwall yet again before clinching a crucial three points against a dogged Ross County.
Celtic scored first through Kyogo, but had to recover from the blow of losing a shock equaliser to Alex Iacovitti to regroup and score twice late on through debutant Moritz Jenz and substitute Liel Abada to seal a deserved win.
Afterwards, Postecoglou was delighted not only with the football his team played, but by the resilience they yet again showed in the face of adversity in the Highlands.
“I think we showed last year there is the football aspect but also the resilience and determination to overcome any challenge,” Postecoglou said.
“We haven’t lost that, that’s still there within this group. I think when you believe in something as strongly as these guys do, and they believe in each other, whatever impediment there is in front of us, they feel confident they can overcome.
“The game of football is funny. You can dominate a game and should be comfortably ahead, and then they get a corner and score, which is part of their strengths. You are looking for a reaction, and the reaction was first class.
“We know it is a difficult place to come and they are a difficult team to play, and conditions being the way they are, with the wind, you know it is going to be a real challenge for you. Credit to the players I just thought from start to finish we played it on our terms.
“We were patient when we needed to be. We got a goal I thought we deserved. They scored from a corner, which is always a possibility; they are a big, strong team. But our response to that was outstanding.
“We stuck to the task, played our football, scored another good goal and even then at 2-1 there was no thought of stopping there. We went and got our third and I’m really pleased with every aspect of our game.”
Postecoglou thought that despite again needing a late, late show to seal the points in Dingwall, his side’s performance was a level above what they produced here in December.
“I thought our football was a lot better,” he said. “I thought we really played well today.
“People can look at the result and think it was close but in real difficult conditions I thought we controlled the game from start to finish.
“We minimised their threats - I said they are a big, strong team but they hardly got in our box apart from set-pieces - and even though they had a lot of bodies behind the ball we still found our openings, we were still really clever in the way we got in behind them.
“There was an edge to the game because of the late goal. I felt we were really in control of the game.”
The Celtic manager was delighted too with the debut performance of Jenz, who he says has a shot of staying in the side if he keeps performing at the same level he showed here.
“He was great,” he said. “He has been training well, he has fitted in really well.
“I keep saying these guys…you see them on weekends but I see them every day. The level of training is really high at the moment. Everyone is putting their best foot forward, which makes training pretty competitive, so if I have to make a change to the line-up for whatever reason I’m really confident about the guys coming in.
“Obviously they have to take their opportunity, but they are ready for that opportunity.
“It was a different game for him today. There was a lot of contests he needed to win in the air, but he also had a lot of the ball and I really thought he showed some real good composure considering he has only been with us for a couple of weeks. It’s a great way for him to start his Celtic career.”
