Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has dismissed suggestions he rested players during his team's 0-0 draw against St Mirren on Thursday morning - a result which damages their chances of winning the Scottish Premiership back off rivals Rangers.
After Celtic won the Scottish League Cup final only three days ago, giving Postecoglou his first trophy, the Hoops crashed back to earth in the league as they failed to breach St Mirren's defence despite having 83 percent possession and 31 shots to four.
Failure to get three points means Celtic are in second position on the Scottish Premiership table, six points behind leaders Rangers after 19 games.
There was a suggestion from media and Celtic supporters that Postecoglou rotated the squad too heavily for the St Mirren match, with only five players backing up in the starting XI from the League Cup final starters - most notably star goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi and goalkeeper Joe Hart.
However, Postecoglou disagreed with the squad rotation accusations, saying he picked the best possible team for the contest.
"None of the players missing tonight were rested - I don’t know where that came out,” Postecoglou told BBC post-match.
"I don’t rest players. If they want a rest they can get one when they are 45.
"Everyone missing tonight was either missing through suspension or injury."
Postecoglou wasn't in the mood to make excuses for the poor result, insisting a 'disappointed' Celtic only had themselves to blame for failing to win.
"It’s disappointing - it’s a game we should have won and we created enough opportunities to do that," Postecoglou said.
"The whole game we created many good opportunities and got in good areas but we needed to be stronger to take them.
"We should have taken advantage of the dominance we had. We dominated the ball and the game, and lacked a bit of composure in their final third.
"The expectation is to win every game and the players are disappointed – as they should be."
Celtic will have an opportunity to bounce back in the Scottish Premiership when they take on St Johnstone on Boxing Day at 11:30pm (AEDT).