Ange Postecoglou hails Celtic mentality after late leveller earns Old Firm draw

Ange Postecoglou hailed the typical never-say-die attitude of his Celtic players after they fought back to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox.

The Hoops desire to go all the way to the final whistle has been a feature of the Parkhead club under the Australian boss and they were asked questions again against their bitter rivals in a thrilling Old Firm encounter.

The visitors had started well with Japan striker Daizen Maeda scoring in the fifth minute after taking advantage of poor Gers defending.

The Light Blues responded and Ryan Kent curled in the equaliser two minutes after the break before skipper James Tavernier slammed in a penalty to make it 2-1.

However, three minutes from the end of normal time, Maeda’s compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi levelled to keep Celtic nine points clear of their Glasgow rivals at the top of the table.

Postecoglou said: “It’s the way this group is, the way we have created the environment.

“There isn’t anything like a lost cause. You go till the final whistle and nothing changes. You have to do that.

“For that to be effective, you have to do it on a weekly basis. And we do.

“Even in our comfortable victories, you’ll still see us being really aggressive till the last minute.

“The players are conditioned to think that way and play that way. It’s easy for me to talk about it, but in today’s environment, and the way the game was, it would have been almost natural to say ‘jeez, it’s not going to be our day’. But this group of players just doesn’t do that.

“It was a cracking game of football, a good derby. Both teams were going at it.

“We started the game really well and then just lost our way a little bit, the last 10-15 minutes of the first half we were giving the ball away