“It was no more than we deserved.
“In terms of applying pressure in the penalty box we were the better team. Celtic started better, they showed good composure. It was a crackling atmosphere, a bit frantic, too frantic at times in terms of possession.
“As soon as Jonny brought that bit of quality there was a whole different slant on the evening. From then on in we got stronger. We got the second goal quickly after it and it was quite comfortable. Although you are never totally comfortable with the level of players that Celtic have.
“I felt as though the second half passed without real incident for the majority of it and that pleased me because we managed the game really well. We had a couple of chances to get the third goal. I haven’t seen it again but my first thought was that Rooney should have got a penalty. I will need to see that one again.
“Griffiths got his goal at the end because you can’t always keep good players quiet. Thankfully it was too little too late.
“It was important that we won the game tonight.
“A lot was made last season of the fact that there were good performances against Celtic but we didn’t get the results. This opportunities were missed but we have taken two of the opportunities this season. We have been very consistent throughout, that’s 11 games unbeaten in the league. Celtic will always present the toughest fixture so it’s good to have beaten them twice this season and we move onto the next one.
“There are fourteen games to go and we need to try and go and beat a good St Johnstone side on Saturday. “The incentive is always there to go and win games. You don’t always get things your own way but I thought tonight we showed intent, energy and we demonstrated a real aggression to our play. We can’t just win the game on that though we need moments of quality and thought and we had enough to get through.
“I always think it’s unfair on my players when people refer to mental toughness.
“We have handled a big game tonight and we have been very consistent for two and a half years with the amount of points we have put together. I thought it was a wee bit dismissed last season because Celtic ended up winning the game with four games to go.
“None of you (the media) believe that we can win it (the league) but I am asked the question all the time.
“My players have demonstrated consistently enough that when we play to a level we win more often than we don’t. They deserve a lot of credit.
“Sometimes people roll out games where they think we haven’t handled it well but there are so many more games where we have dealt with it and sometimes that gets forgotten. We had to deal with that tonight with 20,000 in here tonight, what a brilliant atmosphere it was. They were all here tonight expecting us to win and that’s not always been the way here.
“I felt last season we were getting 3000 at every away game and we were getting 15 or 16 thousand in here. Everybody was saying that we had to keep winning each week to keep on the coattails of Celtic and I thought we dealt with it well.
“The challenge now is to keep winning games.
“I believe my team can win games between now and the end of the season. I believe that we will set out to try and get a better points tally than last season. Even if we better that tally we will need Celtic to come back towards us. Celtic should win this league hands down. There is no doubt about that with the vast resources that they have. It pleases me that we are putting up some sort of fight and it’s not just us there, some other teams capable of beating Celtic.
“We will keep trying to do our bit, hopefully we can improve on last season’s points tally and see where it takes us.
“They have got the squad and a level of player that is capable of winning things and should be winning things. The current Celtic team has a lot of good players and a lot of talent in it but I also believe my team has that. They might have fifty odd players but they can only play eleven at any one time and my eleven were ready for them tonight. Hopefully my eleven are ready for St Johnstone on Saturday.
“Simon Church looked sharp and bright, he gets between the sticks which pleases me. Kenny got the header and he was away celebrating and Simon was away celebrating! It was a great debut for him to score in a game like that and contribute to a strong performance and a good three points. If we can good service he will more than prove his worth.
“Craig Storie did well but I am not surprised at that. There is a lot of trust in him from me. He knows the position and doesn’t do anything too flamboyant in there but he is capable of doing the job that we require. He has got good aggression, he is good in the air and he uses the ball well. Every team needs that understated player and he gives us good balance.”
“Craig Storie did well but I am not surprised at that. There is a lot of trust in him from me. He knows the position and doesn’t do anything too flamboyant in there but he is capable of doing the job that we require. He has got good aggression, he is good in the air and he uses the ball well. Every team needs that understated player and he gives us good balance.”
