Saturday 13 February 2016 19:16, UK
Celtic boss Ronny Deila praised the all-round game of Leigh Griffiths after the prolific striker helped the Bhoys to beat Ross County 2-0 and go three points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Griffiths bagged his 30th goal of the season to put Deila's men in front just before half-time and Dedryck Boyata added a second after the break.
And Deila said that, while he was thrilled to see Griffiths on target once again, he was also delighted with the lone striker's defensive efforts.
"He keeps on scoring and I am very happy for that," said Deila. "It is so important for us.
"But he is also important in the pressure that we want. He is starting it and he can give so much to the team."
Deila was relatively happy with the overall performance of his side, in what he considered tricky conditions.
"I am happy to get the three points," he said. "Ross County is a good team and it could have been more than 2-0 but I think we controlled the game quite well.
"We could have been better on the ball, we weren't accurate enough but, having said that, it isn't easy on that pitch to play fantastic football.
"We were a little bit sloppy in the start in defence, we didn't get close enough, but at the end of the first half we got going and got our goal, and I think we controlled the second half."
Staggies boss Jim McIntyre revealed that Marcus Fraser was sent to hospital with a dislocated shoulder following a challenge on Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong, which led to the defender being replaced in the 82nd minute by Jamie Reckford.
And McIntyre was reluctant to speculate as to whether Fraser is a doubt for the League Cup final against Hibernian at Hampden Park on March 13.
"He dislocated his shoulder, he is in a lot of pain and he is on his way to hospital," said McIntyre.
"They couldn't manage to get it in downstairs so we will know how he is in the coming days. But he is in a lot of pain
"[How long players are out for] varies depending on the severity of it. A lot of the time they can pop them back in and it might be a week or two but some can be a six-week job. I don't know and it would be remiss of me to give a time frame."
McIntyre felt that his side were still feeling the effects of the 3-0 home defeat to Hearts in midweek.
"The boys gave it everything but they looked leggy today," he said.
"A minute before half-time is the worst possible time to lose the goal, because you are set up to frustrate and play on the counter-attack and get the crowd grumbling, and they were certainly starting to do that."
