Anthony Ralston in unseen moment of Celtic magic as Brendan Rodgers spots REAL source of St Mirren goal

Brendan Rodgers sung the praises of Anthony Ralston for his unseen moment of magic in Celtic's opener at St Mirren.

The Hoops got off to the perfect start in Paisley when Kyogo Furuhashi finished off a sweeping move after picking out the bottom corner following Luis Palma's cut-back to his team-mate. Callum McGregor has been picking up plenty of praise for his actions on the ball that included the perfect pass to find Palma and send him running down the line. But Celtic boss Rodgers has quickly moved to explain another key moment that has gone unnoticed from his back-up right-back to start the move.

Speaking to Celtic TV, he was asked about his skipper and his vision in the build-up to the first goal of the game in which he replied: "The first part even before Callum is Tony Ralston. He is in a great defensive position, defends forward and is aggressive. He then wins the ball that Callum picks up on and then it is about his ability and quality to find the pass. The initial bit was really good defensively then he has that quality and weight of pass to send Luis Palma away.

"Callum doesn't surprise me at all. He is a brilliant captain of this team, produces week in and week out and it is also that level every day. He has that mentality and shares that with the young players in the squad. If they are clever enough they will pick up from him."

Daizen Maeda added a second to make sure the holders advanced to the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup with their reward a home time against Scottish Premiership basement boys Livingston. The champions are in a real battle with Rangers to retain their league crown and Philippe Clement and his troops could even claim top spot tonight. They face Ross County under the lights at