BRENDAN RODGERS praised the fighting spirit of his Celtic players after the 1-0 triumph over Aberdeen at Pittodrie this afternoon.
Tom Rogic got the only goal of the game to give the Hoops three well-deserved points as they preserved their unbeaten domestic record.
The Hoops boss said: “That was a great win. Any game I listened to over many years as a young supporter on the radio or watched here at Aberdeen, it’s always been a tough game and Celtic came here and lost twice last year.
“It was a brilliant win for us in many aspects. I said to the players a few weeks ago, you have to learn to win 1-0 as you are never always going to score four, five or six goals.
“But if you have that spirit and collective mentality to fight, it gives you a great chance in any game.
“The game should have been out of sight. That’s the reality of it. We scored a very good goal and had two big chances in the first-half, and in the opening 15 minutes of the second half we created opportunities where we needed to be more clinical.
“Of course, when you don’t score, it can become a wee bit hairy at the end.
“It was real a good game, a great atmosphere and the pitch was really nice and, of course, when you win, it’s a great feeling.
“We have only been working together a short time. If I assess it after 10 games, I have been really pleased with the progress of the squad.
“There is a great connection now within the club in terms of the supporters, the team – everyone is moving in the one direction and we are working very well.”
Rodgers added: “We won Sunday’s League Cup semi-final 1-0, we had a tough game away at Dingwall where the squad was used and we won 4-0 and then we came to Pittodrie, which is always a tough game for any team and Celtic, in particular, so to win here is a really good moment – but it’s only 10 games.
“Emilio Izaguirre came in this week, playing two games out of three, and it was a great performance by him. Mikael Lustig is seven out of ten every week.
