Ange Postecoglou says Reo Hatate has set the standard for the rest of Celtic's right-backs in a convincing 4-1 over St Johnstone.
The midfielder filled in at full-back with Anthony Ralston, Alistair Johnston and Josip Juranovic all unavailable, scoring twice and proving unlucky not to score a hat-trick. Kyogo Furuhashi's double finished off a fine day in Glasgow's east-end and Postecoglou was delighted with how his team performed, in particular with Hatate's makeshift display.
He told Celtic TV: "He's set the bar pretty high for the other full-backs! It's credit to Reo, he had to be really disciplined. I had to be creative with it but the way we play, we thought he was disciplined enough and gave us something going forward.
"I am really pleased. I am glad we are sending supporters home happy and they can enjoy Christmas day with their families. Hopefully everyone has a happy and safe one. I thought we were really good and we looked dangerous all the time. We scored four and could have had more. It was a good performance. Having three games in such a short space of time was always going to test us and the luxury for me is I have quality players to bring in."
Postecoglou also donated his famous jumper to a fan in the crowd, bringing an early Christmas present for one delighted supporter. He added: "There was a little girl on the side and she gets my jumper, so hopefully that gives her a buzz. I gave my tie to a little lad as well. It's Christmas time but I wasn't giving anything else away!"
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