Ange Postecoglou hails ‘warrior’ Anthony Ralston for rescuing 10-man Celtic in dramatic 2-1 win over Ross County

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou hailed his side’s never-say-die attitude following a last-gasp 2-1 win over Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall.

Anthony Ralston’s goal in the SEVENTH minute of stoppage time ensured the Hoops avoided a costly slip-up in the Premiership title race as they remained within striking distance of leaders Rangers.

Postecoglou, who was missing several key players for the long journey north to the highlands, started winger Liel Abada up front and the Israeli opened the scoring in the first-half when he swept home Liam Scales’ cross.

Jack Baldwin responded for the home side just before the hour mark and Celtic’s task was made harder when centre-back Carl Starfelt was sent off for a second bookable offence after 79 minutes.

However, Ralston, who recently returned from his own injury setback, popped up at the back post to nod home Tom Rogic’s floated cross to spark delirium among the visiting support as they spilled out on to the pitch.

Postecoglou was delighted with the way his players kept battling until the death.

He told Celtic TV: “I’m super pleased for the lads that they got their rewards for a big shift. They had to deal with a fair bit of adversity and the way they conducted themselves towards the end of the game was good, they kept their heads and still tried to win the game with ten men.

“It’s super for Anthony Ralston to get the goal. He’s been enormous for us all year and he continues to be. He wasn’t even 100 per cent tonight with his ankle but he’s a warrior, he’s a soldier, he loves this football club and he wants to make a good career for himself.

“But the whole team showed real intent to be a side that doesn’t let anything in front of us stop us from what we want to achieve.

“It’s was a test and the lads showed their composure. We wanted to win this game our own way and the players believe in what we’re doing, they want to be a football team that plays like that right until the end, irrespective of the circumstances.

“I thought the players were all magnificent in a difficult situation. Liel did a great job for us leading the line, it’s obviously not his preferred role but he scored a good goal.

“I was a bit annoyed at half-time because I thought we were a bit wasteful with our possession in the final third, we had some great opportunities to get a second or third goal but our football was still good.

“We only had one striker available so for us it was always going to be a night where we had to be fairly creative about how we scored our goals.”

Asked whether he had any complaints about Starfelt’s dismissal, Postecoglou added: “Most refereeing decisions were helpful for us. I think a few went against us that shouldn’t have but as I said to the players we’ll be a team that doesn’t complain but wins games of football.”

Postecoglou felt the reaction from the Parkhead faithful to Ralston’s dramatic late winner was understandable given the importance of the result.

He stated: “I’m delighted we could send the supporters home happy, it’s a long drive and 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 would be some overexuberance there!

“We’ll see them at Hampden on Sunday. We haven’t spoken about the Cup final yet, I’ll let the boys recover first and then we can start focusing on the big game, but we’re all looking forward to it.”