Ange Postecoglou proud of Celtic's resilience in vital derby victory at Ibrox

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou hailed his players for their character and resilience as they beat Rangers 2-1 to take a significant step forward in the title race.

Aaron Ramsey had put Rangers ahead after just three minutes at Ibrox but Tom Rogic equalised before Cameron Carter-Vickers fired Celtic ahead. The visitors then had to withstand everything Rangers could throw at them in the second half to seal the win and go six points clear at the top of the table with six games left.

Postecoglou said that the performance made him proud and that, in addition to the play that led to the goals, the determination and effort of his players to get what they needed was what had impressed him.

“I’m really proud of the players,” the Celtic boss said. “It was a proper derby, both teams were at it and they obviously got off to a great start and the crowd was up for it.

“To come back from that and show the resilience we did, we played ourselves back into the game and got ahead.

“Then the character in the second half to defend as we did, like I said I’m really proud.

“This group of players just really believes in what we’re trying to create here.

“I thought when we needed to we found the football to get us back in the game.”

The derby victory is the latest step in a formidable run of league form that has seen Celtic go unbeaten since September and engineer a 12-point swing at the top of the table since January.

Postecoglou reflected on the journey and said that again was down to the attitude of his squad and how they had tackled the challenges put in front of them.

“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” he said. “We’re in this position for a reason and the main reason is the value of this group of players, the resilience they have.

“After six games we’d lost three and we were still putting a team together.

“But at no stage did I make excuses or any allowances for them. They accepted the challenge ahead of them.

“We’ve got to this point because of what you saw today. Our football’s been great but there’s a real abundance of character within the group.”