Why Anthony Ralston has earned Celtic starter's jersey - Tony Haggerty

"Stop, Hammer Time!" 

Well, actually, no. But it's most certainly 'Brickie Time'.

Only one of Celtic's right-backs is heading to Qatar to play in the World Cup finals this month. Congratulations to Croatia's Josip Juranovic on that score.

If there was any justice in the world Scotland star Anthony Ralston would also be plying his trade at the same level at the same World Cup finals in the biggest football extravaganza on earth. Note the mention of the word 'star'.

Ralston has been nothing short of an MVP candidate for manager Ange Postecoglou. His career resurrection under the Aussie and ascension into Steve Clarke's international squad have been well documented.

The rise and rise of Ralston is showing no signs of abating. This is why I believe the Scot should be a certain starter in Celtic's two remaining games before the World Cup break.

Juranovic could not have timed his dip in domestic form at a worse time. His missed penalty against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu during Celtic's 5-1 Champions League defeat was the kick of a man struggling for confidence and it has shown for a few games now.

Contrast that with the form of Ralston. The Brickie is not one for downing tools at any stage. 

Saturday's 4-2 win against Dundee United was a case in point. Just ask his manager. During the game Ralston posted some impressive defensive stats (three clearances, two aerial wins, a tackle and he was never dribbled past into the bargain).

Not only that, he again showed the impact he can have offensively from right-back with five key passes including a direct assist. Only midfielder Matt O'Riley topped him in the key passes stakes by charting six.

Ralston played a vital role in Kyogo's injury-time winner which made it 3-2 with a crucial flick-on. It's that attention to detail you see that Postecoglou has drummed into every one of his Celtic players but particularly Ralston and seen him elevate his game to another level.

As Ralston said himself: "We don’t really see a game as over until it is finished. We were aware when the goal went in what we had to do. We’ve been there before and credit to the boys for keeping the right mindset and keeping going until the end.

"I flicked it on at the front post. It is something that we work on in training. It is important I get across the front post just in case the corner is underhit and I’m there. It is effective because it is hard to defend that second ball when it gets flicked on with the pace that is on it and Kyogo has done well to get a touch on it.

"But then we go on and get another one as well and that shows the mentality that, okay, we got potentially a last-minute winner, but we want to keep on going and get as many as we can.”

There was also a moment in the match when Glenn Middleton bore down on Joe Hart's goal and dinked an audacious effort over the Celtic goalkeeper.

Greg Taylor was on hand with a superb piece of defending to block it on the goalline. What many Celtic supporters perhaps failed to spot was that Ralston was also in situ behind him.

Alert to the danger, he had rushed from the right full-back area to the left of centre in the six-yard box to mop up the danger - Taylor just beat him to it.

Game awareness, call it what you like it was the hallmark of a player performing out of his skin at this moment in time.

Last week against Livingston, Celtic's opening goal was the definition of the inverted full-back system personified. Ralston from the right played the ball inside to Taylor, whose clever pass released Kyogo. Bang! The ball was in the Livingston net.

It was the epitome of the slick, fast and free-flowing Celtic team that Postecoglou is building. How the Aussie must have enjoyed that goal.

Ralston is an important cog in this Celtic side and never lets his manager down whenever he is called upon to do him a service.

There are no airs and graces with him; he is Celtic's version of Ronseal. He does exactly what it says on the tin.

Unsurprisingly many of Postecoglou's charges possess the same attributes. That's why Ralston said he doesn't care if the Hoops personnel take it in turns to be the star of the show from one week to the next. It is a squad game.

"That’s the team spirit we need to have," Ralston said. "We are a squad, not just a team of 11 players. We have got boys who sometimes don’t even come into the squad and they are there every day in training, so we are a collective and we have success together.

"It’s not just about one or two people. We’re a club and a squad that is in it together and it was shown again with Kyogo going on and getting the potentially winning goal. In things like that, there are not any egos or any sort of heroes.

In terms of ego, Ralston doesn't own one. In terms of hero worship, he is certainly moving on up there. He has arguably been the biggest unsung hero of Postecoglou's managerial reign to date.

Juranovic may well be going to the World Cup with Croatia - and good luck to him for that.

But when it comes to the World Cup of popularity with regards to the Celtic faithful and Ralston... "You can't touch this!"

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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