‘FANTASTIC,’ RODGERS HAILS HIS TRUE GRIT CHAMPS

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BRENDAN RODGERS praised the true grit attitude of his Celtic players after their late and dramatic 2-1 win over Ross County in Dingwall yesterday.
The champions had to dig deep to overcome disciplined and stubborn opponents who had taken the lead just before the interval following a twice-taken VAR-interrupted penalty-kick.
Referee Kevin Clancy missed Liam Scales’ handball when he deflected a right-wing cross. It was a foolhardy and inexplicable reaction from the Republic of Ireland international and was clocked by the technical assistant Nick Walsh.
Kasper Schmeichel dived to his right to beat away Ronan Hale’s effort, but it was spotted the keeper had come off his line at the moment of impact and the Irishman – a self-confessed Hoops fan – got a second chance and he made no mistake.
It was the first time the Danish legend has been tasked with fishing the ball out of his net in a league game following six successive clean sheets.
THANKS, FANS…Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the Celtic support at the end of a dramatic encounter.
However, a resolute group of visiting players regrouped after the interval and went again and, after the introduction of four welcome substitites just after the hour mark, turned the game on its head.
In the 76th minute, Alistair Johnston, with the aid of his right thigh, diverted a drive from Callum McGregor past Ross Laidlaw for the equaliser.
Twelve minutes later, the visiting support were celebrating again when Kuhn raced onto a superb through pass from Johnston, weaved inside onto his left foot and curled the points-clincher low into the net.
A relieved Rodgers said: “We’ve had a really busy period. We’ve played seven games in 23 days and won six of those, we lost to the Champions League finalists, so we’ll get better from that.
“But I can sit back and look and think what a great start the players have made this season, we’ve got 38 finals, and that’s our seventh final, and we’ve won it.
THUMB’S UP…Callum McGregor sends his message to the Celtic fans.
”I mentioned during the week we’re a team with a real resilience as well as being a really good football team.

“And I think we had to show that in the second-half. In the first-half, we were too slow, there was nothing in the game, we had all the ball, but there wasn’t enough penetration.

“There wasn’t enough movement and we weren’t really doing anything in the game. Obviously, we gave away the penalty, so Ross County were given something to hang on to.

“But, the second-half was much more what we wanted to see and we thoroughly deserved the win.”

The Hoops gaffer, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “We weren’t running enough and too slow on the ball. We play with a touch-pass tempo, but we were having too many touches before passing it.

“So, that slowed our game down and then obviously those runs off the ball, we weren’t making those sacrificial runs.

“We looked like we were looking for an easy game – and that’s not what this team is about.”

DOUBLE CHEERS…Alistair Johnston holds his hands aloft after netting the leveller with Callum McGregor, Auston Trusty and Liam Scales sharing the joy and (below) matchwinner Nicolas Kuhn accepts the applause of the Hoops support.

Rodgers added: “In the second-half, especially with the introduction of the new players coming in, we got real good energy in the game, started to run more, started moving more and then our quality paid off in the end.

“We knew that, anyway. When you play the number of games that we do, to have that bench, to be able to increase the intensity, is really important for us.

“The guys who came in were excellent, but we’ve had that in other games. We’ve had games where the guys have come in, a bit like St Johnstone – those guys come on and then affect the game

“It’s a fantastic win for us. Ross County have shown that they are a tough team to break down here at home. So, it’s really, really good.”

Celtic can now take a rest during the international break with their next encounter scheduled for a week on Saturday when Aberdeen, who have also won all seven of their league outings, provide the opposition.
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