Are big-game players keeping Celtic in title hunt?

Celtic had to dig deep into their superior resources for a win over Aberdeen that interim manager Martin O’Neill suggests “keeps us, at least for a little while, in the title race”.

Left-back Kieran Tierney suggested in midweek that the trophy winning experience of their players and team boss could give Celtic the edge in a four-horse race for the Scottish title.

In recent weeks, late goals have come to Celtic’s rescue time and again.

After Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Pittodrie, O’Neill again hailed the “resilience” and “fight” that secured a narrow but “big win” over Aberdeen.

O’Neill called for Celtic to avoid the slow starts that have left them facing uphill tasks in recent weeks.

And Tierney responded with their fastest Premiership goal of the season after less than five minutes gone at Pittodrie.

The 28-year-old left-back’s game time has been carefully managed since he returned from an injury plagued spell with Arsenal last summer.

However, Tierney was back to something like his best at Pittodrie, with more goal attempts than anyone else on the pitch and winning every duel in which he competed.

James Forrest was one of the highly decorated players picked out by Tierney in midweek and the 34-year-old played a vital cameo role at Pittodrie.

His low cross for fellow substitute Benjamin Nygren’s winner was the Scotland winger’s first league assist of the season, but Forrest has now created six chances in his last five appearances off the bench.

Forrest also came off the bench to secure the points late on the last time Celtic played Aberdeen – a 3-1 victory at Celtic Park in December.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton said of Nygren on Sky Sports: “What a strange player. He can go missing in midfield but comes up with goals.”

Just as well given Daizen Maeda is still looking like a shadow of the player who lit up Scottish football last season, January loan signings Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu have yet to fully impress and Kelechi Iheanacho has disappeared from view despite his return from injury.

Nygren is not one of the title winners Tierney talked about in Celtic’s squad, but the 24-year-old Sweden midfielder is doing more than most to make sure he gets that league winners’ medal.

Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan enthused on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound: “The impact substitutes you’ve seen at the weekend, you’ve seen it again tonight with Benjamin Nygren and James Forrest linking up.

“Lovely tee-up from Forrest and Nygren just finishes – we’ve seen that time and time again and he’s had a real impact in this team.”

Indeed, Nygren has found the net three times and provided one assist in his latest four Premiership games – and his 15 goals are more than any other Celtic player in the league this season.

“I know Nygren gives up certain parts of the game, but what he does do is he gets into the box and gets on the end of things,” Allan said.

“I felt his overall play in the game was really good, played some lovely through balls, always looked like he was going to be a threat round about that 18-yard box and he was the difference again tonight.”

His manager was similary enthusiastic.

“He’s doing something that is the most difficult thing in the game – to score goals -and he’s popped up again with what proved to be the winning goal,” O’Neill said.

There were other individual heroes at Pittodrie.

Viljami Sinisalo has stepped in to replace the off-form and illness struck Kasper Schmeichel in goal and the Finn came up with a stunning stop to deny Kevin Nisbet a second equaliser.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old on-loan Brentford centre-half Benjamin Arthur was handed a first start after Dane Murray was injured in the warm-up.

“Half an hour beforehand his mind was thinking,’ I wonder will I get on at any given stage’ and then the next thing he’s called upon to start the game,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill insisted he always expected the “tough evening” they “certainly got”.

It was Celtic’s fourth midweek game in a row and now they can look forward to Sunday’s renewed rivalry with Rangers, this time in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

“Our third game in six days, so that was tough,” he said. “We showed resilience to fight it out towards the end.”