Impressed Gary McAllister has acclaimed Ianis Hagi for taking on the messages himself and Steven Gerrard imparted at half-time against Hibs on Wednesday.
While the loanee from Genk was solid in the first 45 minutes he was imperious in the second period once he got more of a handle on the idiosyncrasies of the Scottish game.
Bobby Madden was the subject of criticism for some of the physicality that he allowed to go unchecked and McAllister has explained that Hagi was "flummoxed" by some of the refereeing.
But the element that impressed the former Leeds and Liverpool midfielder most was the way the 21-year-old took the challenges in his stride and showed the intelligence to adapt.
He said: "The one little bit of instruction that was given to him at half-time was that he's playing in a very physical league, probably different to the leagues he's played in previously. Some of the refereeing is different and the game is allowed to go on when there is big contacts and I thought he took that information on very well.
"He still hunted the ball and got himself involved in possession but I thought in the little duels you could see he had taken on board the information and the fact that he was able to keep control of the ball under some heavy tackles.
"He rode the challenges and I thought in the second half he was nearly faultless and I liked the way he linked the back to the front with little combinations between himself and James Tavernier, Alfredo and Scotty Arfield.
"He's only been here a couple of days and I quite like the understanding he's created with these guys in such a short space of time."
He continued: "That flipside was what I enjoyed, that he got up to speed with some of the physicality and some of the refereeing decisions.
"He was flummoxed when he didn't receive free-kicks after people went through him and play was waved on."
