Happy Ange Postecoglou praised his Celtic side for making it 20 games unbeaten in the Premiership and insisted there is still plenty more success to come from his table-toppers.
He praised the character of his side as they dug deep to see off a second half Aberdeen comeback to come out on top in a five goal thriller at Pittodrie.
Postecoglou was disappointed his team lost a couple of goals from set-plays but accepted the wins over Rangers and Motherwell had taken a lot out of his side.
He said: “My view on that stuff is I think we have been very good for a very long time. We have won a trophy and we are sitting at the top of the ladder.
“I think our season has been decent from any objective perspective.
“Whether people think that’s good enough or believe in us sustaining it, that’s a different question. But from my perspective we are improving as a team.
“Players are understanding the football we want to play and within that they are showing resilience. It’s not like we’ve had it easy at any stage, including today.
“We were down to ten men in one game. We’ve had to fight for it. “To do what we’ve done this season means that this group of players are showing really strong characteristics of a team that can be successful.”
The Celtic boss also reckons last night showed it is very much a squad game, with two-goal Jota and Matt O’Riley getting the goals, after being on the bench at the weekend. Postecoglou claimed it is very much going to be a team game to get Celtic’s to fight on all fronts.
He explained: “It is helping us, getting the squad we need to tackle the task ahead. The way we play is very demanding. Even here today you are coming away from home against a good team and we are the ones initiating play and provoking and working to score goals so there is no respite for the players. If you don’t have a strong squad it takes its toll.”
Aberdeen were unhappy that Celtic’s winner was given but Postecoglou was happy to leave it to the officials.
He added: “There’s nothing more I can say, it was given a goal.
“I don’t have a view of it, I don’t know anyone who does apart from the linesman who made the decision.
“So from my perspective, it was more important to see our reaction to going level.
“We got back out in front and scored the goal.”
The Celtic boss knows his side needs to be stronger at the back.
He insisted: “You always know you are going to get a reaction, particularly away from home.
“We were handling it okay but it was disappointing to lose goals from set pieces.
“There were no real threats for us out there but they got one, got a reaction from the crowd and caused us problems with another one.
“After that, we needed to be a bit more calm to control the game better.
“We still had some chances but even then we were rushing things.
“It’s not an easy place to come and win - it was important to come here and continue our form.”
Postecoglou was also left baffled that an Aberdeen fan was able to run on to the pitch, take a selfie with Joe Hart and then run off with a match ball, into the South Stand.
He claimed: “I think we all were. It was like he had a free pass because he just wandered off and got back to his seat. Fair play to him he’s obviously got some special pass that allows him to do that.
“I don’t like that because I always fear that you just don’t know what’s coming. You don’t want players to react to that or get involved. At the end of the day it was harmless enough, over-exuberance.
"We were all a bit baffled by his entry and exit. He’s obviously got some all-access pass that none of us have.”
