Ange Postecoglou credited his players for their effort in Celtic’s 1-1 draw against FC Midtjylland tonight (Tuesday) but the Hoops boss said his team were thoroughly deserving a win given their dominance.

There was plenty for the 9,000 fans in attendance to be pleased about as Celtic put on an impressive performance in their first competitive game under Ange Postecoglou.

New signing Liel Abada scored on his debut to put Celtic in front in the 38^th minute, but the Hoops were dealt a blow just before the break after Nir Bitton was sent off. The visitors themselves were reduced to 10 men shortly after the restart, however, they managed to draw level midway through the second half.

Reflecting on his side’s performance, Ange Postecoglou felt Celtic should have come away with the win.

“We deserved the three points,” he said. “We played really well, especially in the first half. We controlled the game, scored a good goal and hit the post. We went down to 10 men for a significant amount of time and had to work hard.

“We created some good chances again and limited them to two strikes on goal throughout the whole game so it’s a wee bit of a missed opportunity. At the same time, it was a fantastic effort from the players.”

Nir Bitton’s sending off forced Ange Postecoglou into making a change and 18-year-old defender Dane Murray came on to mark his competitive debut for the first team. The Academy Bhoy partnered with Stephen Welsh in the heart of defence and the pair ensured the Danish side did not have an opportunity to score another goal against the run of play.

The Celtic manager was pleased with how his players reacted to going a man down and praised the debutants for their performances.

“The reaction of the players and young Dane Murray coming in was fantastic,” he said. “I thought defensively, considering we had two very young central defenders, they did an outstanding job.

“Liel was bright, intelligent with his movement, scored a good goal and created a couple of good chances so it was a very promising start.”

Ange Postecoglou: Players' effort and performance merited more than a draw against Midtjylland