GLASGOW: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised his side's patience as they left it late to claim a 1-0 win away to Ross County on Sunday.
The champions found it difficult to break down a well-organised County defence in the first half and failed to register a single shot.
However, with time running out substitute Leigh Griffiths came to their rescue as he curled a free-kick into the top corner to keep Celtic's 100 per cent away record in the Scottish Premiership intact.
It extends their lead at the top of the table to six points following Aberdeen's 2-0 loss to Motherwell while rivals Rangers slipped further behind nine points adrift in fourth place as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Hamilton at Ibrox.
Rodgers was pleased to see his side extend their unbeaten domestic run to 64 games ahead of their midweek trip to the French capital to face Paris Saint-Germain on Champions League duty.
"It was always going to be a difficult game for us. We've come back from an international break and the fluency of the team was interrupted a bit," Rodgers admitted.
"But it was an absolutely outstanding victory for us.
"It was always going to be dogged. We didn't work the goalkeeper so much in the first half but I thought in the second half it was much more like us in terms of the speed of our game.
"We just had to be patient and ensure there were no mistakes defensively.
"We spoke at half-time and we knew we had the quality to score.
"Obviously we put the risk into the game, made a change and Leigh scores an absolutely brilliant goal so it was a very good win for us."
Goal out of nothing
Rodgers said a combination of a poor pitch and an impressive defensive display from Ross County made it hard for his side.
"I felt the pitch wasn't great. It's the first time I've been up here and the pitch has been poor," said Rodgers.
"It was a bit long and a bit bobbly, so that affected the speed of our game," added the 44-year-old Northern Irishman.
"Give Ross County credit as well because they made it difficult. They got back into a defensive block so it was difficult for us to break down.
"But we're a team that will never leave the game early and the players kept going to the end. Once they got the goal then you see the energy in the team go again and then we saw the game out with another clean sheet."
The Celtic manager also praised Griffiths.
The striker, who missed out on Scotland's match with the Netherlands last week with injury, came off the bench to break the deadlock with a sensational free-kick that boosts his chances of starting the Champions League clash.
"He's a player who can get a goal out of nothing," Rodgers said.
"It's funny actually as a lot of his free-kicks of late have been hitting the wall or not hitting the target or working the 'keeper.
"But that one there today was absolutely outstanding."