Anthony Ralston

Was very frustrating today. I like Tony a lot, but he was very slow to react with possible runs and when he had the ball, was very hesitant. As mentioned he's not had much game time so it's probably understandable but we really missed AJs drive today.

 

Please, never again.

 

He was absolutely fine.

 

No good enough..

Some of his crossing is *. Almost sold a goal by giving them the ball..

 

He was pretty poor but was also solid enough to ensure we weren’t in any major trouble defensively down his side.

Made Raskin absolutely * himself when he grabbed his jersey near the end.

 

Everyone says he's a solid dependable back up and then has the fear anytime he plays. I just don't think he should be here he was given a new deal off the back of a good couple of months under Ange. I've never rated him and just think we could easily get better

 

Ralston, Scales and Taylor starting in our back line is just really poor quality for me..

It's a sheep level type defence if you take out Carter-Vickers that would concede plenty elsewhere..

None should be starters here or getting plenty game time..

 

The big man played well, with another assist. He also won some headers in our box, something we've been struggling with.

 

Deffo played well. Adds some physicality in the challenge for definite and put some good balls in, including the assist..

 

Very rarely let's us down. A true Celt

 

Excellent today. Thought he really helped with bringing midfield into the game and combining with them.

 

His delivery is superb. Tough with him because he is usually good in these games but then when he has to play in our biggest games he’s clearly knocking his pan in but struggles.

Bet he’s another that makes sure everyone is at it in training, Never sulking for not playing etc

 

He looked a fair bit sharper today, some decent passes forward as well, and kept them quiet down his side. Good performance

 

Good shift from Mr. Dependable, some lovely balls over the top.

 

Was good today, plays some really good balls forward. Looks a bit clumsy sometimes but think that's just cause he's quite a big lad and hasn't been playing much.

 

Anthony Ralston has opened up on life at Celtic, with the right-back enjoying an extended run in Brendan Rodgers’ starting line-up as of late.


The 26-year-old has started the past two games due to Alistair Johnston’s injury, though the Canada international looks set to return for Wednesday’s trip to Pittodrie, as confirmed by his manager post-match.

Despite playing second fiddle to Johnston for much of this season, Ralston has insisted that he is still very much living the dream at his boyhood club. “I’ve been here all my life. I’ve been here since the age of eight years old and worked all my life to be a Celtic player,” he said.

“I’m a Celtic fan, I come from a Celtic family. So days like Saturday, playing at Celtic Park, my friends and family coming to the game… I mean, I’d be silly to say that I want anything else.

"Of course, you want to be playing, and I’ll continue to keep my head down and work for that. But you know, Celtic’s my job, and this is where I love to be. The sun was beaming down; I’m playing a game of football at Celtic Park. If you’d said when I was a kid that that was what I was going to do, then I wouldn’t have believed you.

“I never take it for granted.”

Wednesday’s game against Aberdeen in the Granite City acts as the penultimate league match for Ralston and his team, with St Mirren to come this Saturday on ‘Trophy Day’ at Celtic Park. The midweek match-up will also act as a dress rehearsal for next Saturday’s Scottish Cup final between the two sides.


Though he has been involved in more than a handful of these games, both on and off the pitch, Ralston admits that next week will be just as special as the others. “You know, I never take them for granted either. My family will all come along to that, and we'll enjoy that day when it comes,” he said.

“We still have another game on Wednesday to take care of before that, so that's it. In my personal situation and a few other boys, there isn't always the guarantee that you're going to train through the week and get the game at the weekend.

"If I were to not put the performances in or work hard in training, then when the opportunity comes, I'd only be letting myself down because I wouldn't be able to take it, ultimately.

"So I've just kept professional, just kept my head down and trained every day."


Though Celtic wrapped up the Scottish Premiership title with games to spare, Rodgers was keen to stress the side’s willingness to maintain their standards, revealing that “mini targets” had been set by the coaching staff to the players concerning the final three league matches.

Ralston acknowledged this fact, as the right-back admitted that he and his teammates are still as hungry as ever to break records in their final league matches this term. "We've been reminded of that, what our targets are and what we want to achieve,” said the Scotland international.

"We want to beat records. We want to keep pushing. There's never nothing to play for. There are always goals you want to achieve. We're getting closer to that target. We've got a few games left to complete, as well as some achievements and targets that we've got.

"We did well to get closer to the ones today (Saturday), and we just need to keep going again on Wednesday. Obviously, we want to finish the season off as strongly as possible and make it really memorable. We know what we need to do in order to do that.

"But it's already been a magnificent season for the boys in the squad and everybody involved, so we double down now even harder to finish it off as strongly as we can