Delighted Ange Postcoglou praised his injury-hit Hoops for overcoming adversity and rattling Ross County in stoppage time.
The Australian knows it was a big moment as Anthony Ralston’s stoppage time winner gave 10-man Celtic a vital win in Dingwall.
Celtic had seen Jack Baldwin cancel out Liel Abada’s opener and then Carl Starfelt sent off before Ralston came up trumps.
It was the perfect boost ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final with Hibs.
Postecoglou said: “I’m super proud of them, they got their rewards in the end.
“They had to put up with a lot of adversity but they kept playing their football and got a deserved winning goal.
“I thought with ten men we still tried to play and win the game of football, we didn’t just launch it long.
“It was a great ball in and it was super for Tony to get the winner.
“In terms of this group of players, who have been thrown together this last five months, winning like that will add to the belief they have in what we’re doing.
“It would have been easy to lose their composure when the chaos was happening, but they stayed calm and got their rewards for doing that.
“That just fuels them going down this road of being a certain kind of football team.”
The late strike sparked a pitch invasion and Postecoglou insisted it was a big moment.
He stated: “The fans have had a long drive up and it’s a long drive home.
“I hope they have calmed down and stay safe on the roads back.
“When you score a last second goal, not a last minute one, in front of them then you can imagine there’d be some over-exuberance there!
“It was great for them because they have had a long journey and there’s a real bond developing between the team and the fans.
“Nights like tonight help that as well.”
Starfelt was sent off for two yellow cards but praised the character of his side for digging out the win.
He said: “I don’t think we got the rub of the decisions tonight, a few went against us.
“I said to the boys we won’t complain about it, we will just win games and let that speak for itself.
“A few went against us tonight but we just keep going, playing our football and keep winning.
“Hopefully these things even themselves out.”
Postecoglou is unsure yet if he will have any more striking options back for the cup final. He praised Liel Abada for scoring and leading the line.
He explained: “It’s hard to say who will be back, we left yesterday and I will see the boys we left back at Lennoxtown tomorrow.
“I’m still hopeful one or two of them will be available for Sunday, but which ones I’m not sure yet.
“They are all pretty keen to be involved but we will have to be smart in who we use.
“Liel was good through the middle, we knew we’d have to be creative and we scored a super goal.
“I was annoyed at half-time because I felt we were wasteful and could have had two or three.
“Liel worked hard, we have been asking them to do other jobs and the fact they are doing that while still finding ways to win is important.”
