Celtic's Brendan Rodgers praises side's 'will and desire'

Brendan, we’ll talk about the whole game in a second, but what about that end to the game and the goal from Matt O’Riley?

I was here a few years back and won a late one with Tom Rogic, and I thought that was as close as we’d probably get to win a game late on. It was a great response by the players, incredible mentality. I said to them afterwards that this club’s history is built on many late goals. That’s what Celtic do, but you have to have that will and desire to keep going. I thought we dominated the game. Credit to Motherwell, because they were very compact and very tight on the pitch. You're not going to have it all your own way, so you have got to be patient, you have got to work the ball at speed. Probably the only thing that was lacking was a wee bit of quality when we got in and around the box. We had a couple of chances, Jamesy (Forrest) had a header, and a couple of other good opportunities, but obviously once they equalise, we stayed calm and kept working the ball and just were waiting for that moment, and it was a fantastic finish from his ride side. Absolutely delighted for the players, because they gave so much to the game and deserved the three points.

When they equalised, Brendan, did you genuinely still feel that there was a winner here?

You have to keep going right to the death. It's what my teams have always done, and it's what Celtic does. You still need the players to deliver and play with that calmness. You’ve got to always keep believing that you’ll get something from the game. We didn’t start lumping it into the box. We just worked away up the pitch, came out one side, got a cross in. It was a great cross by Greg Taylor, who showed immense resilience to stay on because he’s taken a bad whack on his calf there. A great cross and Matty’s (O’Riley) finishing. Brilliant for the supporters, because they see this team now and see how they will keep going by fighting right till the very end.

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You’ve talked over the last few weeks about the spirit of the team. We've just seen it more and more over the last week in a certain way – winning at Livingston with 10 men – and we saw it there. The fact you say you believe they can still score. Do you feel like the manner of the victory can help you and your players long-term this season, as you kept believing till the very end?

I’ve said that it's the beginning of any good team when you have that strength and that personality to keep going. Of course, in any game, we feel as if we can do that. It's a trait that is in any good team, and the players obviously demonstrated that. I thought the game was a wee bit bitty as well, and I thought to be fair to Willie (Collum), it was very stop-start, the game. It could have flowed better from an official’s perspective. We had to keep our concentration, and keep working.

A big moment for Luis Palma, as well?

Yeah, it was a great cross! It's great for him, he’s adapting like all of the new players, at a level and intensity that they're not used to. Marco Tilio coming in from Australia, where the weather is beautiful. Palma is in from Greece, where it's amazing. Now they’re in a place where it’s raining and it's tough, but they’ve got to adapt. For him, that'll be massive for him. It's a great cross-in, and he can do that, he plays it in and we were happy when it found the corner

There were some awful scenes with both sets of supporters. Respective delirium, but they were goading each other and some missiles. Was that a real concern for you, as you were watching it, that it could have gotten worse?

In all honesty, I didn’t see that. I saw people on the pitch, and of course, that’s not what we would want. You understand though the lateness of the goals and what that brings to it, so you have to think of the context of it all as well, but I didn’t see anything else.

For all of your experience, you were on the pitch as well, almost as if the emotion got to you as well?

Oh aye. I was waiting for someone to take me off! Listen, it's a massive moment, and that’s football. That’s the emotion. I pulled my calf the last time I did that.

In terms of Matt O’Riley, obviously a new contract and a big moment. What’s he bringing and what is he going to bring to this side?

For me, it's about trying to help him develop to be an all-round top number eight, which is about getting around the pitch, making good passes and trying to get his numbers up, which is exactly what he’s doing. I think it's an immense credit to the board over these last few months, you look at the players that we've tied down to longer deals here. That takes a lot of work and a lot of negotiation, and for them to be convinced that this is the place for them to develop. Matty (O’Riley), I've been so, so happy for him. He gets out of the game what he puts into it, he's so professional. He has big quality and like I said when I first came in, we just need to get more goals into his game. In fairness to him, his timing and finishing are quality, so a big goal.

He's surpassed last season’s goal total already, so he's obviously taken that on board?

Like I said, he’ll mature and only get better. He's only 22, but he will only get better. It’s what you need to do, you need to have that balance in midfield, and I always have had an eight that can score a lot of goals, that can break forward, and he's doing that really, really well.

READ MORE: Celtic instant analysis as Matt O'Riley seals win in dramatic fashion

In terms of the week ahead, how is Greg Taylor, and did Nat Phillips come through okay?

Yeah, well the idea was to get him onto the pitch and get his pitch geography again. He seemed okay, the last couple of days in training was much better. The plan was to give him half an hour, so that was good. Greg hopefully will be okay, I think If we had another sub he might have come off, but he soldiered on. He’ll probably be sore tonight, but we’ll see how he is in the next couple of days.