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Thompson hails huge win

Image: Alan Thompson: Was delighted with the victory which kept Celtic in the SPL title hunt

Celtic coach Alan Thompson hailed a 'huge' win over Motherwell on Sunday, while Stuart McCall was gutted.

Celtic coach delighted after must-win success over Well

Celtic coach Alan Thompson hailed a 'huge' win over Motherwell on Sunday, while Stuart McCall was gutted. The visitors went into the game 15 points behind rivals Rangers with two games in hand after an indifferent start to the campaign. After Anthony Stokes had quickly cancelled out Michael Higdon's 11th-minute opener, Gary Hooper tapped in the winner with ten minutes remaining following a fantastic run by Paddy McCourt who then passed to Stokes for the assist. Thompson, deputising at the post-match press conference for manager Neil Lennon, who was feeling unwell, hailed the late victory, which followed the 3-1 win over Rennes on Thursday night which kept their Europa League hopes alive. "If you want to go and win the title then I think the game was a must-win," said the former Celtic midfielder. "If we don't win today it is virtually impossible but we hung on in there. "So it was huge and it is a relief to get the last two games out the way. They were pressure games, no doubt about it, today more so I think. "We keep asking the same group of players to go again. "On Thursday night after going a goal behind it could have gone the other way against a great Rennes team, so it is was a relief and now we can start preparing for the next game." Thompson praised substitute McCourt, on in the 77th minute for Georgios Samaras, whose dribble preceded a pass to Stokes to set up Hooper for the winning goal. "How many times has he done it?" he said. "He did it at Dundee United last year and at St Mirren and again today. That's what Paddy is, he is a breath of fresh air - for 10 minutes." But Thompson quickly denied that McCourt is forever consigned to the role of super-sub. "I don't think so," he said. "He had a good hour against Rennes in midweek, he played in a big game at Ibrox last year. "If he keeps doing what he did for 15 minutes he is going to be pushing for starts."

Reiterated

McCourt reiterated the importance of the win and admitted feeling a sense of responsibility when he is asked to come off the bench and save the day. "I was delighted to come on and contribute," he said. "If it had finished 1-1 it was a long way back. We said during the week that winning on Thursday and today was an absolute must. I think the manager and players knew that. "I'm not saying that if we didn't get it then the manager was going to get sacked because I don't know, but as a group we knew these two wins were massive." He added: "The game was slipping away when I came on. "I know I am getting put on to win the game, not to shore up the defence so I definitely feel that sense of responsibility and I am comfortable with it. "The manager has used me as a substitute a lot, sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't and thankfully today I was able to help us get the three points."
Accepted
Well slipped back into third place with the defeat and manager McCall accepted his side were opened up by a piece of McCourt "magic". "I was gutted with the result," he said. "I thought we merited a point but there was a bit of magic by McCourt and he has done that before after coming off the bench. "We have tired bodies when McCourt comes on because we have given everything and you do fear when he picks the ball up, but as I say I was gutted. "I didn't think there was anything but pride and positives to take from the game." Well defender Tim Clancy was sent off at 2-1 for kicking out at Hooper and McCall described his red card as "stupid". "I haven't seen it but I spoke to Tim afterwards and he has kicked him so I think it was a merited red card," he said. "Stupid, but apparently deserved. I will have a look at it and will punish as I deem fit. "But he held his hands up and he had to learn from it and in fairness it was the first time he has ever done it."

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