Brendan Rodgers says Celtic defender Liam Scales was outstanding in his battle with Kieron Bowie on Saturday.
The Bhoys drew a blank against Hibs as they were dethroned by Heart of Midlothian at the top of the William Hill Premiership.
They created a number of opportunities, but it wasn't to be in the end.
Although Kilmarnock, Hearts, Motherwell and Dundee United have all scored more league goals than Celtic this season, Rodgers' men remain solid at the back.
And the Parkhead boss believes Scales contributed to such stability on Saturday: "The two centre-halves dealt well with any long balls," he told Sky Sports.
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"Liam Scales was outstanding against the young guy, Bowie, who's strong and physical.
"We really dominated the game. The only thing that was missing was the killer touch.
"We got the ball into really good areas and failed to find that touch that can open up the game for you.
"We defended really strongly and really impressively when we had to."
As well as Scales, Rodgers also hailed the performances of Marcelo Saracchi and Sebastian Tounekti: "I thought Marcelo was excellent today and played the role really, really well," he said [BBC].
"Sebastian [Tounekti], you can see he is really good in the one-v-one.
"So coming and playing their first games, some of the guys and some of those who haven't played in a little while giving us that energy in the squad as well."
Celtic return to action on Thursday evening in the UEFA Europa League against Braga.
