ANTHONY RALSTON has labelled teammate Tom Rogic as ‘unplayable’ after the man the Celtic fans call the Wizard of Oz worked his magic on Motherwell.
Rogic returned from international duty to bag a double in Celtic’s 4-0 win over the Steelmen, with Ralston joining the Celtic support in purring over the Australian’s contribution.
The full-back is just glad that Rogic is on his side, revealing that it can be a bruising experience trying to mark the 29-year-old in training.
“When he plays like that it’s pretty difficult, as you can imagine,” Ralston said.
“When Tom’s on top form he is unplayable, you can all see that for yourself.
“It’s terrific to play with him, especially down that side and it makes my job easier. He gives me that option when I’m on the ball, coming inside or on the outside, so he was terrific again today.”
Rogic wasn’t the only Celtic player in irresistible form at Fir Park, as they followed up their demolition of Rangers in midweek with another dazzling performance in Lanarkshire.
Ralston isn’t quite ready to proclaim Ange Postecoglou’s current side the best he has played in at Celtic, but he says they are certainly up there.
“That’s a tough question,” he said.
“But we’re in a very good place and we’re all enjoying our football.
“To a man, when we’re called upon we’re ready to go. We’re all in it together.
“The style of football we’re playing is enjoyable for all of us. We’ve all got our own roles in the team and that then contributes to coming together as a team.
“It’s showing in our performances and results that it does work. To a man we believe in what we’re doing and we need to keep doing it.
“We’re all enjoying our football and the style of football we’re playing is very attacking. But with that comes a solid defence as well.
“We all know the individual roles and with that we come together as a team too.
“We’re delighted [with the win over Motherwell], it’s not an easy place to come. To play the way we did was good.”
The Celtic players haven’t had a lot of time to reflect on a hugely positive week following the wins over Rangers and Motherwell, and they will now immediately turn their attention to a trip to Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
“We’ve got a lot of games, it’s a busy schedule,” Ralston said.
“But we take each game as it comes, we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves.
“Today was a good performance, but that gets put away now and it’s about Wednesday night. And it will be the same again after that. That’s the way we’re approaching things.”
The emphasis behind the scenes is very much on keeping feet on the ground, as it was in Callum McGregor’s public appeal for calm amid the euphoric celebrations following the win over Rangers.
“I think it was quite a natural thing to be said,” Ralston said. “We take each game as it comes and don’t get too carried away.
“It was a terrific performance on Wednesday night and it was important that we put it behind us and focused on today. We did that, and got the job done and now it’s about Wednesday night. That’s exactly how we will approach the rest of the season.
“We knew it was a difficult place to come. We’ve got the job done and it’s now important that we stay humble and keep our feet on the ground and do the same on Wednesday night.”