Ange Postecoglou proud of how Celtic handled Hearts fightback at Tynecastle

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou praised his side’s resilience after they held on for a 2-1 victory over Hearts at a raucous Tynecastle.

The Hoops led at the break through goals from Reo Hatate and Georgios Giakoumakis but they had to withstand some strong pressure from the hosts in the closing half hour, with Liam Boyce pulling one back before missing a penalty.

Postecoglou was thrilled with a victory that keeps his side within four points of cinch Premiership leaders Rangers ahead of next week’s Glasgow derby.

“It was a cracking game,” he said. “I thought we played really well. We should have killed the game off with a third goal.

“When they got their goal they hadn’t really created much up until that point. The crowd got behind them and it’s not an easy place to come and play. But I thought we defended well when we needed to, which you have to do when you come to a place like this.

“The scoreline was tighter than it should have been but in terms of the overall performance, on a difficult night with a difficult challenge, I thought we handled it well.”

Postecoglou was pleased his side eked out such a big victory without several key men, including Callum McGregor, Kyogo Furuhashi, Tom Rogic and David Turnbull.

He said: “If you chart the course of this team from the first time we were here (at Tynecastle on the opening day of the season), which people keep mentioning, the amount of challenges we’ve had means we haven’t really had a smooth run to be honest.

“But I don’t mind because it builds resilience and reveals character. It doesn’t matter what team we throw out there the guys show that they are ready for it and enjoying and embracing the kind of team we want to be.

“They are not making excuses for anything and I think