Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted to see his players reward the commitment of their supporters in a 4-1 win over Ross County.
Rodgers relayed the travel plans of a group of Irish supporters who followed Celtic to the snow-bound Highlands, where temperatures were as low as -5C during the William Hill Premiership encounter.
The game did not go all Celtic’s way on a frosty, bobbly pitch and the scores were level as the match entered the final 10 minutes after County substitute Jordan White levelled from the spot.
But Kyogo Furuhashi soon headed his second goal of the game and stoppage-time efforts from Arne Engels, through a retaken penalty, and Luke McCowan moved the Hoops 18 points clear at the top of the table.
“One thing I want to say is the commitment of the supporters,” Rodgers said.
“As I said to the guys before the game, there’s many reasons why we want to win the game.
“But I know a group of supporters that jumped on a boat at 3.30 this morning to travel across, to then drive a drive up to here that we drove on Friday. They were going to stand in the freezing cold and watch a game.
“I said, that is commitment, at the very bare minimum, we have to match that commitment. If we do, our quality and everything else will take us through the game.
“It’s that resilience that the team have. You have to work that way, and have the resilience, you’ll always find a way. The players did that exceptionally well. We were all feeling super cold, the pitch was really bumpy and lively, but we found a way.
“First half we could have been more than one up, should have been more than one up, and then they get pegged back with the penalty.
“But then the reaction was outstanding from there, that push to keep going, stay calm, and the guys coming into the game gave us a nice little change of energy.”
With four wingers unavailable, Furuhashi played in a wider role outside of Adam Idah, but was in familiar territory in front of goal to net twice.
Rodgers said: “I thought he worked really well. You have to remember he was a winger when he played in Japan, that’s what he was. He came into the club as a winger, so he has played there.
“But his profile is not one-v-one, beating people like some wingers are. So it was the case of, with two goalscorers out of the team, trying to bring goalscorers in and find a way to be flexible to allow him to do that.”
County boss Don Cowie felt the final score was harsh on his players.
“I’m really frustrated and disappointed for the group – to be level with 10 minutes to go and for the score to finish the way it did was harsh,” he said.
“It was especially harsh on (goalkeeper) Jordan (Amissah) with the way he performed and the way the rest of the group put their bodies on the line and tried to make it as difficult as possible for Celtic.
“I don’t think they deserved that in terms of the effort they put in.”
