Neil Lennon was thrilled to see his Celtic side hold out for a 2-1 win over St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League on Saturday.
The Hoops scored twice before the half-hour mark through Teemu Pukki and Charlie Mulgrew before Liam Caddis pulled one back for the Saints with nine minutes remaining.
Celtic were solid for most of the encounter, on the back of their Champions League defeat at AC Milan on Wednesday, and it was their steely resolve to see out the victory which had Lennon pleased.
"I'm not going to let the last 10 minutes detract away from what was for the first 80, a top performance," said Lennon. "For me, it was a natural course of events after midweek.
"There was mental and physical fatigue in the last 10 minutes which was totally understandable. We had no time to prepare for this game at all. It was all about recovery from Wednesday.
"I thought the first half we were fantastic, the best we've played this season and it was after a big Champions League game in midweek, so I take my hat off to the players, it is a big, big win.
"There was a flow to us, we were creating good chances. Anthony Stokes got one off the line, he flashed a shot wide, he looked half-decent on the counter attack.
"But 2-0 is obviously a funny scoreline. If St Johnstone get one then it is all hands to the pump as it were but as I said, I won't let the last 10 minutes affect what was for me, a very good performance."
