Ange Postecoglou has admitted Celtic weren't at their best despite coming out 2-1 winners against Motherwell.
Kyogo Furuhashi's early tap-in had the visitors in the driving seat before fellow countrymen Daizen Maeda came off the bench to double the advantage with six minutes to play. However Ross Tierney responded with a magnificent volley to set up a nervy finish as the Steelmen showed a fighting spirit until the end.
And despite Celtic having the bulk of the possession during the clash the Parkhead boss believes his men made things to complicated for themselves and ultimately had to grind out three points at Fir Park, which keeps them seven points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership. "It was a grind today. We had to work awfully hard," admitted Postecoglou on BBC Scotland. "Credit to Motherwell, I thought they worked awfully hard themselves to disrupt our play and we just never got into any sort of rhythm today.
"Especially in the first half, I felt we just complicated things a bit and made things difficult for ourselves but we found a way to win again. That's always, particularly away from home in the Premiership, it's always a challenge but it's always good to take three points."
Postecoglou knows his side can perform at a better standard but was pleased to see the character of his players shine through to secure yet another win.
He added: "For us, it's maintaining our standards and our performance wasn't at the levels we want it to be but even when it's not that doesn't mean we can't win a game of football. Again part of the strength of this team is the character and resilience and again we found a way.
"There's some pretty simple solutions out there for us. We are at our best when we move the ball quickly and keep things simple. I just thought we just tried to be a bit too cute today with our football and we didn't really get a hold of the game which we like to do so. I guess that's why we had to sort of struggle through it."
The Hoops now face Ross County at home on Saturday before jetting off to Australia to compete in the Sydney Super Cup as the league season takes a months pause for the Qatar World Cup.
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