Ange Postecoglou refused to blame Josip Juranovic and Joe Hart for the mix-up that could have cost Celtic victory in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Motherwell - because they’re human beings rather than FIFA ‘23 stars.
The Celtic boss was delighted his players found a way to win through goals from Japanese duo Kyogo and Reo Hatate - who was later culpable for a red card shown to captain Callum McGregor - but he backed rather than barracked the players who made life more uncomfortable for his side than it could have been as they reclaimed the top spot Rangers had taken earlier with their 4-0 win at Tynecastle.
Postecoglou said: “Reo’s pretty hard on himself, he pushes himself, he wants to be better. So, there’s a lot more to come. He’ll be disappointed with his pass late today which sort of created the red card situation. So, he’ll go back and think of how he can better. But Reo’s got great potential and he was good today. It is disappointing for Callum. He’s taken one for the team.
“I’m not sure it was a red card, it looked like we had a covering player. But the referee was in a better position, so you’ve got to cop it.”
Asked if Celtic could appeal John Beaton’s decision, the Aussie added: ““Look mate, I’ve got to have a look at it. From where I was – I didn’t have the greatest angle, I was furthest away – it definitely looked like Josip or someone was coming around there. But, we’ll have a look at it.”
As for the Juranovic own goal - the Croatian, under no pressure, chested the ball past Joe Hart - Postecoglou accepted that mix-ups do happen. He added: “There was no one else around them. But these things happen in football, you kind of know.
“Invariably, they happen in a game like today. They never happen when you’re four or five up. But they’re human beings, mate. As much as I’d love to control them like that FIFA stuff, you let them be human beings who are going to make mistakes.
“The important thing is that we recovered from that and we got our goal. It was important to win today. After a loss you’ve got to get back into winning ways as quickly as possible.
“So from that perspective it was an important three points. It should’ve been a lot more comfortable than it was.
“We started well and first half we created some really good opportunities - unlucky with a couple hitting the post. But we had good chances, we usually are pretty good at putting away. We just lacked that clinical edge, we usually have.”
Next up for Celtic is the Champions League clash in Leipzig on Wednesday and Postecoglou will give injured centre back Cameron Carter-Vickers every chance to make it, although he is adamant he won’t hurry the American back if he’s not 100 percent fit.
He said: “We will see. He got some treatment again and will get some on Sunday and we will see how he is Monday and Tuesday and make a decision.
"He is not far away but we have another 12 games in 40-odd days so I am not going to put him in unless he is absolutely right because it would be silly of us to put him in and then lose him for another few games, particularly with Carl Starfelt out for at least another couple of weeks.
“Cam’s pretty good, if he is ready he will play and put his hand up, I don’t need to question that. But we have got to make sure we make the right decision. We will give him every chance.”
