Have a look at our record- Ange bristles at statement claims as SPFL title comes into view

Ange Postecoglou didn’t need a statement result from his players against Ross County this afternoon. 

Delivering the right level of performance almost always produces the desired result. Going into today’s match Celtic had won 23 and drawn four of their previous 27 matches. 

Last Sunday at Hampden Celtic lost a match by the narrowest of margins, on another day they could have won. Some baffling decisions by Bobby Madden had an impact on the match. 

At Ross County today Ross Callachan was shown a yellow card in the fourth minute. He could have been booked earlier but that caution ensured that he had to be more careful for the rest of the afternoon. 

Celtic weren’t at their best but they were more than good enough to beat their opponents. Scoring a second goal earlier than the 87th minute would have helped but with 74% possession they were in control throughout. 

After drawing at home to Dundee United in September Postecoglou joked about the title being decided, at that stage Celtic had 10 points from seven matches. Over the last 27 matches Celtic are unbeaten with just four draws in that SPFL run. 

The reaction since losing out in the Scottish Cup has bemused Postecoglou, the build up to today’s match seemed to focus on an impeding implosion but as they returned to Glasgow the Celtic squad are six points clear and 19 goals better off than their city rivals with just four matches left to play- three at home. 

Speaking to The Sun, the Celtic boss said:

Every game has been important to win. Have a look at our record from round six.

If people can show me the games where we could have afforded a slip up, I’ll be happy to have a look. Every game has been important, every performance has been important. Today was no different.

We just have to continue on with the football we’ve been playing with whatever challenges we have – and I felt we did that today.

You talk about statements and all these things – we lost in extra time to a single goal in a cup semi-final.

If that’s evidence for things that need drastic change or that we’ve gone off the rails…that was our first loss in I don’t know however long.

I get why people have extreme reactions to it but I can tell you that by Tuesday, we were disappointed obviously because we were out the cup and really wanted to get to the final, but we were back training at our levels and getting ready for the game today.

We never lost our momentum, We lost a cup semi-final in extra-time. We have been very good for a very long time and that’s why we sit where we sit. From my perspective it wasn’t about a reaction to last week.

The hype and build up to next Sunday’s match is already underway, the only certainty is that Postecoglou and his squad won’t be impacted by the noise all around.