GORDON STRACHAN, the Celtic coach, yesterday praised the attitudes of Shaun Maloney and Maciej Zurawski after their matchwinning performances against Hibs.
Strachan singled out the duo for special mention after their 2-1 win at Easter Road, which puts his side 15 points clear at the top of the league.
Strachan praised Maloney for the way he shrugged off the disappointment of missing a second-half penalty to turn in a man-of-thematch performance while Zurawski earned the respect of his manager for leaving his sickbed for a vital match.
"Maloney and Zurawski were absolutely magnificent, " said Strachan "There is no point just having physical strength, as you need a mental strength as well.
"Zurawski has had a virus but he said he would give it a go: he has a huge heart. To turn up on a day like this when it is horrible and the snow is coming down, but you still want to play, is great. He could easily have chucked it, but mentally he turned up."
Strachan noted Maloney started slowly but came on to a game when the team really needed him. "After a not very good first half by his own standards, he got better, " said Strachan. "He then missed a penalty in the second half but still went on to a different level compared to the other people on the pitch."
It was Strachan's tactical acumen which helped Celtic to victory as he made minor changes to the formation when Hibs appeared to be getting the upper hand. He dropped Stilian Petrov into a midfield role rather than continue to play him up front and managed to nullify a strong Hibs midfield.
It was a point not lost on Hibs coach Tony Mowbray who said he was disappointed his team had not reacted better and quicker to the firsthalf changes in the Celtic system. "I was disappointed with them in that a wee tactical change upset our rhythm so much, " said Mowbray.
The Hibs manager felt his side had passed up a great chance to take something from the game and part of the reason they didn't do so was because the final ball into the box invariably left something to be desired.
"We got into good positions and got behind their left back, " said Mowbray. "Young Ivan Sproule has great potential, but was disappointed he could not lay it on a plate for his strikers. He's a great lad and wants to get better but the final ball is the part of his game he will have to work on."
Mowbray said he was delighted at the excellent finish by Derek Riordan who opened the scoring for Hibs and that he had no gripe about the Celtic penalty award which Maloney converted for the equaliser.
The Hibs coach was angry, though, at the lack of decent marking when Stephen McManus scored the Celtic winner, but said he believed referee Alan Freeland had no option but to red-card goalkeeper Simon Brown for handling outside the area.
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