Brendan Rodgers applauds Celtic's resilience and tradition after dramatic win

Brendan Rodgers hailed his Celtic side for their attitude and resilience as they fought back from a goal down for a 2-1 win over Ross County in Dingwall.

Ronan Hale had put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot just before half time and Celtic hadn’t been at their best as they laboured to create chances against a stubborn County side.

Alistair Johnston turned in Callum McGregor’s shot to draw Celtic level with 14 minutes to go and the comeback was complete when Nicolas Kuhn cut inside to fire a curling shot into the far corner of the net in the 88th minute.

The win continued a perfect start to domestic competition for the Premiership champions and helped lift spirits after the 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund days earlier.

Rodgers said: “The thing I said in the aftermath of the midweek game was that I’ve got absolutely 100 per cent confidence in the resilience of this team.

“That’s all about grit and determination and fight and we had that in the bucket loads.

“We played seven games now over the course of three competitions in 23 days and the players have won six of those and the loss was against the Champions League finalists. So I tip my hat to them.”

Kuhn’s winning goal sparked wild celebrations from the players and the travelling Celtic support and the manager felt that moment underlined something special about the club.

“It’s a Celtic tradition, isn’t it? It’s how the game is played at this club,” he said.

“Because if you look over the course of this week, we had thousands of fans turn up in Dortmund. They’ve seen what they’ve seen, which wasn’t great, but they give us great support at the end of the game.

“Now they’re having to come up here for a 12 o’clock kick-off, so the very least you can do is run your heart out right to the very end. That’s what this club’s about. It’s the fabric of this club. You keep going to the end.”

Reflecting on his side’s performance, Rodgers admitted he had to have a frank chat with the team at the break before they fought back for three points.

“I said at half-time, you are either looking for an easy game or you’re feeling sorry for yourself,” he said. But whatever it is, it’s not enough.

“We have to go and impose our way of playing and get the energy back into the game again. And then obviously the second half we were much better.

“It wasn’t very good in the first half and you give a big credit to Ross County and their organisation.

“I don’t think there was a lot happening either way in the game but certainly the onus was on us with the team that has the ball to do more with it.

“But it was too slow and we said that at half-time. We’re a team that can never look for an easy game and it just looked a little bit ponderous and a bit slow and then we didn’t create enough.

“So the second half, especially when the subs come on, we bring a new energy to the game and we get what we deserved in the end.”

County boss Don Cowie was disappointed his side hadn’t been able to hold on to their commanding position, and also questioned a key refereeing decision.

“The equaliser was a bit fortunate, and then they score a goal from a foul that I didn’t think was a foul,” he said.

“At the time I didn’t think it was a free-kick, and I’ve seen it again and it’s not.

“It’s up to us to react to that situation. We were slightly stretched, and two passes later they score.

“I’m just disappointed for the boys that they’ve got nothing to show for their efforts in the end.”