Ange Postecoglou praises Celtic player who had tough week

Ange Postecoglou ended his bad run at St Mirren Park in style with a 5-1 win. For quite a while, it had looked like things were going against Celtic once again. The home team took an early lead from the penalty spot and then, managed to hold on to till the break. They did go a man down before half-time though.

Celtic were able to take advantage of that after the break and put five goals past St Mirren. Before this result, Postecoglou had never tasted victory or seen his side score a goal at the stadium.

Thus, this was a big result for Celtic for sure. Certainly a big one in terms of the title race. Michael Beale’s team had won the previous day against Kilmarnock to cut the gap to six points, but now, the nine-point lead is restored.

One man who was instrumental in turning the game around against St Mirren after the break was Liel Abada. He was brought in place of Daizen Maeda and went on to score as well as provide an assist after coming on. And Postecoglou had some nice words for the youngster after the game.

Postecoglou praises Celtic player who had tough week

As reported by the Irish Examiner, Postecoglou said about Abada:

"“He was really good.“It’s important – and it’s a weekly thing – that the guys who come on make an impact.“The fact they’re not starting doesn’t affect their mindset. I just thought the way the game was going it was a good game for him to come on into. I knew he would get a bit of space out wide to run at them.“He’s a handful when he does that and he’s always a goal threat. It doesn’t matter what opposition he is up against.“He’s played a lot of football over the last 18 months for us and he’s scored a lot of goals and supplied a lot of assists. He’s still got a way to improve, I’m sure, but again he’s another within the group who just wants to be better. Consistently, when he is asked to contribute, he makes a contribution.”"

Abada certainly is someone who is capable of changing the course of a match after coming off the bench. He showed that vs St Mirren and will do so in the future as well, whenever the manager calls on him to deliver.

Abada was coming off of a tough week as well. He was criticised heavily for his dive against the Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final. And then, there were suggestions that he did not want to extend his contract with Celtic. So, this performance against St Mirren should do him a world of good.