Celtic news bulletin as John McGinn fights back against 'pub league' jibe and Palma sussed out BEFORE penalty woe

Bullish John McGinn has taken a swipe at Scottish football's detractors as he declared he KNEW Ange Postecglou would be a success at Tottenham.

The Aston Villa captain and Scotland star admitted to hearing the talk of the Australian leaving a "pub league" behind when he swapped the Scottish Premiership for the English Premier League last summer - but the boyhood Celtic fan revealed he had the inside track on Postecoglou. The 29-year-old had talked to Parkhead insiders in the Scotland squad to work out the profile of the manager Spurs were landing - and before facing off with Postecoglou on Sunday he hyped up the appointment in a spirited defence of Scottish football.

McGinn told The Daily Mail: “When he was appointed Spurs manager I heard the same old nonsense us Scottish people hear down here: ‘Oh he’s only done well up there because it’s a pub league’. But I had spoken to the Celtic players and my brothers who had played against his teams and they spoke very highly of him.

"Tottenham are exciting to watch. Their home game with Chelsea recently was the wildest 100 minutes of football I’ve ever seen. I have never met their manager but I only hear good things about him. It’s similar to the way the manager is thought of here (Unai Emery). They have a clear identity of how they want to play and they stick by it.”

In league duty, Brendan Rodgers side slipped up in their pursuit of the title with a 1-1 draw against Motherwell. Luis Palma missed what proved to be a crucial penalty - and goalkeeper Liam Kelly has revealed the homework that went unto the save.

Kelly was eventually beaten by a David Turnbull spot-kick but Jon Obika’s late equaliser sent the Well fans home happy. And post-match, Kelly said: “I have been