Celtic coach Stephen McManus has praised his young team after they ran out comfortable winners against Rangers B in the Glasgow Cup earlier today.
The former Celtic defender said it was a "brilliant challenge" for his young chargers after the Ibrox side named John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz and Leon King in their starting line up. The Parkhead side ran out 3-1 winners at the Rangers Training Centre thanks to a double from Joey Dawson and Mackenzie Carse also getting on the scoresheet. Ross McCausland pulled one back for the home side but it was not enough for David McCallum's side to make it through to the next round of the cup.
Souttar and Yilmaz, who are both recovering from long spells out of Michael Beale's team, played the first 45 minutes of the tie as they look to get back up to speed. The Scotland international came on in the dying minutes of the Gers league win over Kilmarnock at the weekend but this was his first lengthy bit of game time since signing from Hearts in the summer.
Speaking to Celtic TV following the game, McManus heaped praise on his team, he said: "We say that every week but our game is built around hard work, enthusiasm, energy levels and I felt they brought that against a good Rangers side. They were a lot more experienced than us, so it was a brilliant challenge for us coming in. They were playing against a Scotland international on the pitch, there were other international players available.
"As a young player you need to then test yourself in the best environments. It was an opportunity for them to go and showcase that."
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