Ange Postecoglou hailed the typical never-say-die attitude of his Celtic players after they fought back to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox, while his opposite number Michael Beale said the league title is now The Hoops' 'to throw away.'
The Hoops desire to go all the way to the final whistle has been a feature of the Parkhead club under the Australian boss and they were asked questions again against their bitter rivals in a thrilling Glasgow derby encounter.
The visitors had started well with Japan striker Daizen Maeda scoring in the fifth minute after taking advantage of poor Gers defending.
The Light Blues responded and Ryan Kent curled in the equaliser two minutes after the break before skipper James Tavernier slammed in a penalty to make it 2-1.
However, three minutes from the end of normal time, Maeda's compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi levelled to keep Celtic nine points clear of their city rivals at the top of the table.
Postecoglou said: "It’s the way this group is, the way we have created the environment.
"There isn’t anything like a lost cause. You go till the final whistle and nothing changes. You have to do that.
"For that to be effective, you have to do it on a weekly basis. And we do.
"Even in our comfortable victories, you’ll still see us being really aggressive till the last minute.
"The players are conditioned to think that way and play that way. It’s easy for me to talk about it, but in today’s environment, and the way the game was, it would have been almost natural to say 'jeez, it’s not going to be our day’. But this group of players just doesn’t do that.
"It was a cracking game of football, a good derby. Both teams were going at it.
"We started the game really well and then just lost our way a little bit, the last 10-15 minutes of the first half we were giving the ball away unnecessarily, uncharacteristically for us, without a great deal of pressure.
"That allowed them to get that little bit of belief and obviously they came out at the start of the second half really strong.
"We struggled to get to grips with the game but again when it was required the players found the will and character to get the goal to get us a result."
Postecoglou revealed why Greece striker Giorgios Giakoumakis came on as a second-half substitute to complement Furuhashi rather than replace him.
The Celtic boss said: "We needed goals. Kyogo’s pretty clever. He can drop in as a 10, he has played that in his career.
"So I just felt at that time that we needed a goal. Rangers started to retreat a bit which meant that hopefully we would get more balls in the box.
"And if we did that, having extra bodies in there would help us. It worked out that way."
Canada international right-back Alistair Johnston was thrown in for his Celtic debut and Postecoglou was impressed by the 24-year-old’s performance.
He said: "I thought he was good. It’s a difficult game to throw him into. Not only is it a derby, it’s away from home and also we all knew it was a big game for a number of reasons.
"For the most part, he handled himself really well. He was solid defensively. He was up against a very good player in Ryan Kent.
"For the most part, I thought he handled it really well, but there is more to come from him, especially in an attacking sense once he gets to understand our games. He won’t get a sterner test than that as a Celtic player. He came through it really well."
Meanwhile Rangers boss Beale vowed that his players will continue to battle for the title but conceded that it's is Celtic's "to throw away."
He said: "In the big games, it is big moments, isn’t it? I am sure there will be a little bit of regret on both goals – more than a little bit of regret.
"We should do better. We are the home team and, as a group, when I worked with them previously, they pride themselves on clean sheets. That is the third time we have let in two goals, so we are going to have to improve on that.
"Certainly in big games at home, I am not sure we are going to be able to let in two goals, and not two the way that we did.
"That might seem harsh on the team but that is the reality. We did a lot of good things. We are no further away than we were five games ago.
"The points are the same. There’s 18 games to play. It is Celtic’s to throw away in terms of the league but in terms of our mentality and where we are, I think we are one or two steps ahead than we were a few weeks ago but we need to be 10 more.
"I thought in terms of where we are at, that’s the best performance since I came here.
"We were very unfortunate not to win the game. I wouldn’t say we were clearly the better team so a draw to some people’s eyes might be fair also."
The former QPR boss keenly awaits the return of a number of injured players while looking for new recruits in the transfer window who will be more than a short-term fix.
He said: "I definitely want to bring in players but they’ve got to be the right players.
"I want John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz, Ianis Hagi, Tom Lawrence, Kemar Roofe and Antonio Colak fit – that will be a start.
"If we can add two or three more to it then we could have a second team as good as the first team that was out there today, then it’s game on inside the building.
"You have to earn your shirt. I think the last few weeks, people have played regardless.
"Celtic are a very good team. All of their players are not top and all of ours are not rubbish – that’s not right.
"Two good teams played a game of football today. We’ve got good players, they have to show themselves in the best light collectively and individually.
"Then we need the players who have been injured back fit and in and around this squad. Then you can see the true value. This month will be a big month, sorting out one or two players’ futures, tying one or two things up.
"I don’t want short term until the end of the season because there is no point, to appease myself or fans. We need people to come in that will be big players for Rangers in the next two or three years.
"They don’t just grow on trees. With this game out the way now it gives me time to get into that. There is some people I have got in mind."
