BRENDAN Rodgers last night hailed the mental strength of his Celtic players after watching them grind out a 1-0 win over Hamilton which ensured he wrote his name in the Parkhead record books.
A first half Leigh Griffiths goal was enough to give the Scottish champions a narrow victory which extended their unbeaten run domestically to 19 games.
Rodgers, who revealed that he was far from satisfied with the overall performance of his charges, has now made the best start of any manager in Celtic history.
Read more: Leigh Griffiths: Hamilton strike shows I can play up front with Moussa Dembele for Celtic
“It (the record) doesn’t hold any weight at this point," he said. "It is a good win and it is very nice.
“It is a great mark of the player’s concentration and how relentless they have been, their drive to keep going.
“The point I make to them is when you are winning have the attitude that you are losing. And keep working.
“If you are going to succeed you need to have drive, desire and hunger. And we have shown that in bucketloads.
“I think that mental fitness is important. You think how many games this group has played and the level they have been playing at.
Read more: Leigh Griffiths: Hamilton strike shows I can play up front with Moussa Dembele for Celtic
“The level they got to second half against Partick on Friday and having to recover. You want to play fast, free-flowing football but it is not always possible.
“If you can’t, can you still win and that shows the mark of the team. They still got through and got the end result. “
The triumph stretched the lead which the Scottish champions, who still have two games in hand, hold over their city rivals Rangers to 11 points.
Rodgers added: “Throughout most of this season, we have played at a very high level. In some games we haven’t and tonight was one of those games where we didn’t hit the heights, which is sometimes understandable with the number of games we are playing.
“But we showed great desire and persistence to keep going. Hamilton were very well organised. They have lost a lot of goals here in the past, so they were never really going to open up.
“Martin organised his team very well with a back five, midfield diamond and one up front. They have young players with good energy. So we had to be really patient in the game.
“The pitch doesn’t help us, it’s really slow for the type of speed and football that we want to play. But we got the job done in the end and it’s a good victory for us."
Martin Canning, the Hamilton manager, was delighted with the performance of his side despite the defeat.
Read more: Leigh Griffiths: Hamilton strike shows I can play up front with Moussa Dembele for Celtic
Canning said: ‘I thought the boys were excellent. The work rate with different class. They did what we asked them them to do. I thought their shape was very good, their discipline.
"You need to concentrate for 90 minutes and I thought if we could stay in the game we could make the last 10 minutes uncomfortable for Celtic. We could have given ourselves a chance of taking something from the game.
"We were unfortunate at the end when we put them under a bit of pressure and had a couple of wee half opportunities when we could have nicked something from the game.
"It’s a difficult place to come and it would have been nice to get something. But to come and perform that way says the boys deserve credit from their efforts."
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