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Tony Ralston believes Celtic’s winning mentality and experience of trophy gathering can give them the edge over rivals Hearts and Rangers in the title run-in.
The defending champions had to work hard for their 1-0 win at home to St Mirren which kept them three points behind leaders Hearts going into the final five post-split fixtures.
While Ralston admits Celtic’s performance level was below the standards they would hope for, he has no doubts they have what it takes to go on and secure a fifth consecutive Premiership crown.
‘I’m not within the walls of other squads or in the other teams that are involved but I am within our walls and within our changing room and I know we have a strong mentality,’ said Ralston.
‘We have a great captain in Callum McGregor who has an elite mentality and he has shown that over the years. He’s the one who leads us and we have boys who are behind him and we are all moving towards the same goal as a collective.
‘That is just about honesty and it shows in games, like against St Mirren, where we had to grind out a 1-0 win.
Celtic defender Tony Ralston made a rare start as they ground out a 1-0 win against St Mirren
Captain Callum McGregor (right) and Liam Scales have the experience Celtic need in the run-in
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates scoring in a victory that keeps Celtic’s title hopes alive
‘We have a great squad in terms of having experience, not just myself, we have Cal, James Forrest and also Liam Scales who has been terrific over the last couple of years.
‘We now have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who is very experienced in terms of his own career, so we have a very experienced group and we need to use that as much as we can. We need to help the other boys who have not been in this scenario along the way and right to the finish.’
Ralston made a rare start for Celtic yesterday, having been down the pecking order of right-backs behind Alastair Johnston, Julian Araujo and Colby Donovan this season.
‘Nobody would say they are satisfied when they are not playing,’ he said. ‘But this has been my club since I was a boy so I am never going to let anyone down. I’m going to keep working and be ready whenever called upon.’
