Ange Postecoglou hails character of his players after Celtic hold on for crucial win at Hearts and keep the pressure on SPL leaders Rangers

• Celtic put Hearts to the sword at Tynecastle to bolster their title credentials
• Ange Postecoglou's side went ahead following a 25-yard stunner by Reo Hatate
• The Japanese star, who arrived this month, netted his first goal since joining
• Giorgos Giakoumakis made it 2-0 before Liam Boyce reduced the arrears at 2-1  

Ange Postecoglou praised the resilience of his Celtic side after they repelled a late Hearts fightback to claim a huge three points.

Missing key players Callum McGregor, Kyogo Furuhashi, Tom Rogic, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi, Reo Hatate claiming a stunning first goal for the club before Giorgos Giokoumakis added a second before half-time.

In a torrid last half hour, however, Hearts top scorer Liam Boyce pulled one back then smashed a penalty kick against the base of the post as the visitors were forced to dig deep to cling on.

Praising new Bhoy Matt O'Riley for an assist on his debut Postecoglou was delighted with the character shown by all his players

'If you chart the course of this team from the first time we were here – which people keep mentioning – the amount of challenges we've had means we haven't really had a smooth run to be honest.

'But I don't mind because it builds resilience and reveals character.

'It doesn't matter what team we throw out there the guys show that they are ready for it and enjoying and embracing the kind of team we want to be.

'They are not making excuses or allowances for anything and I think that's a credit to the whole group.

'The scoreline was tighter than it should have been but in terms of the overall performance I thought on a difficult night with a difficult challenge I thought we handled it well.

'Matt was great. And Reo Hatate. Reo has played 70 minutes of football in the last month and Matty has trained with us two or three days. That's only Giakoumakis's fourth or fifth start. So we had some challenges, we knew that. Bitton was outstanding in midfield I thought.

'It's probably the one thing that is probably a little bit underestimated in this team, they are just a really resilient group of players. There were plenty of reasons for them to have excuses but I thought tonight with the changes we had to make our football was still great.'

Hatate smashed his first goal from 25 yards before Giokoumakis claimed his third Celtic strike – his second in two games – eight minutes later.

'Reo has got more you know, he is just beginning.

'It's not easy because he set a pretty high bar after the first game.

'But he is a very determined young man to reach the top.

'It's pleasing for me because we bought a few guys in their early 20s who really are ambitious and they will improve and get better and be a really good nucleus moving forward.'

'Giorgos is another one who had a tough first half of the year for sure.

'But that's what I mean about character and mentality.

'I think he is showing people why I brought him to the football club.'

Robbie Neilson expressed disappointment at the failure to take something from a night when his side missed a penalty and defenders Michael Smith and Craig Halkett limped off. New loan striker Ellis Simms – signed pre-match from Everton – made a huge difference in a second half when Hearts threatened to snatch a point

'I thought we started the game very well but Celtic are a very good team - and we allowed them to be a good team up to half-time.

'And at that point we are 2-0 down and chasing it. The second half was pleasing but I thought the first half could be better.

'When you get chances you have to take them and we had a few, but it wasn't to be tonight.'

Critical of decisions a number of times this season Neilson felt assistant referee Dougie Potter should have flagged two goals offside – including his own side's strike for Boyce.

'The Celtic goal and our goal are two poor decisions. You get decisions like that every week.

'For me, it's a clear-cut one. He's got to see it. There's nobody in between him and the Celtic player. We're all for VAR - the sooner it happens, the better.