Motherwell boss Graham Alexander says Celtic might have thumped his side 4-0 at Fir Park, but at least they had a go at the Premiership leaders.
While the Steelmen didn't have a great many chances to score, Alexander says at least they didn't sit back and invite Celtic onto them to be picked off.
And he says Motherwell deserve enormous credit for going to the end, despite being 3-0 down at half-time.
The game was beyond Motherwell by that point, after Liel Abada's opener was added to by a Tom Rogic double, and Daizen Maeda added a fourth in the second half.
Alexander said: "It was difficult on all levels. First and foremost, they are a quality team who work their socks off and they have a great humility about how they go about it.
“It’s not just about when they’ve got the ball. It’s how they make you feel when you’ve got the ball.
“We are trying to aspire to being a better team and I’d rather my team went like that than just sit back and wait to get beat.
“You try to get that first goal to give yourself something to play for, but if they get it, it’s extremely difficult.”
Alexander added: "I actually thought we had our best spell when we conceded the first goal. We had a decent amount of pressure in their final third. We had some opportunities in their box but couldn’t quite get the final shot off.
“We were growing into the game but they had the quality to hit us on the counter.
“I know we could have defended the first goal a lot better but we have to acknowledge they are a fantastic team with a lot of good players. They just beat a team on Wednesday which had lost just one in 60-odd matches, so they can do it against anyone.
“My players committed to the game we have been trying to implement for the last two or three months, so for me it is a choice you make - you either go and play how we always play, while acknowledging the quality of the opposition, or you just completely go the other way and sit in front of your goal for 90 minutes and wait to get beat.
“I think we’re better than that. I think we have to try to aspire to be better than that for the long term future of us as a team.
“We know it’s not fool-proof but we have to go and compete at the level we did.
“We told the players at half time that it was a test of character. And to man, they didn’t give in and kept going to the end.”
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