'Strong' Celtic mentality key to Ross County win as Rodgers singles out two-goal hero for adapting to new role

Brendan Rodgers reckons Celtic’s strong mentality shone through against Ross County as they eventually topped the Highlanders 4-1 in freezing conditions at the Global Energy Stadium.

The Hoops boss had to contend with some mounting injury problems, particularly in the final third, ahead of the trip to Dingwall with only one outright winger - Yang Hyun-jun - available. A family bereavement meant Luis Palma was absent, leaving Rodgers to deploy star striker Kyogo Furuhashi in an unfamiliar role on the right wing to try and compensate for the loss of regular starters Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda.

The alteration paid dividends with the Japanese star notching a double with Arne Engels retaken penalty and a stoppage time Luke McCowan goal adding a touch of gloss to the scoreline. Jordan White has briefly hauled the hosts back on level terms from the penalty spot before a late flurry of goals.

“Very pleased,” Rodgers told Sky Sports. “I think the effort the players put in, we should’ve been more goals in front at half-time. We scored a very, very good first goal and obviously we get pegged back which comes from us giving the ball away at a throw in a few minutes earlier.

“We then have to find that resilience that I spoke about and you can see how the players kept going. In games like today, on a really cold day, a very bumpy pitch, you’ve got to find a way to win. The players showed a fantastic mentality and we ended up really good winners in the end.

“You can’t wait for the perfect situation, the weather, the pitch and everything else. But the effort and the mentality of the team to keep trying to find a way was great. We had lots of creative players out, but we still end up with four goals and playing well on a really, really difficult day.

“It’s been that way for us all season (building positive momentum). We had one really poor performance, but that doesn’t define us. This team - to continually get the results and performances - it’s a wonderful strength that we have as a group. We’ve now got to recover and get ready for our next game on Tuesday.”

Asked about Kyogo’s willingness to help the team in their time of need, Rodgers replied: “Having goal scorers on the pitch with so many goal scorers out, it was about trying to find a way to release him to provide the width at times, but also be on the inside at times.

“You see both his goals, the second is a fantastic header and that’s what he does. He wants to run forward and wants to score goals. So I thought all-round he adapted to that position really well.”

On both penalty incidents, Rodgers felt referee Matthew MacDermid got both calls spot-on. He added: “Both penalties that were given were both correct. Both full-backs were caught on the wrong side, they don’t get the ball and they make contact with the player. So I thought Matthew made the right decisions. I haven’t seen Reo’s one back yet, but we just have to accept it.”