Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy were both 'close' to making the Celtic squad to face Ross County, manager Ange Postecoglou has said.

The midfield duo were rated doubtful in the build-up to the match, with Postecoglou saying at his pre-game press conference that the pair would be assessed on Saturday before the Dingwall trip a day later.

Neither man made the matchday contingent, with youngsters Ben Summers and Rocco Vata named on the bench.

"Hopefully next week," Postecoglou told Sky Sports when asked if Hatate would be back soon. "Him and Aaron were close but not quite ready. We've got a full week after this game and if everything goes well he should be available."

In Hatate's usual midfield berth came January signing Tomoki Iwata for his first Celtic start - a decision Postecoglou insists was a natural one to take.

"The hunger's there," he said of Iwata. "He's training really well, he knows what responsibilities he has out there and he's a footballer I know really well so I'm sure he'll acquit himself well.

"He's been working hard behind the scenes, he's trained really well and when he's come on he's done a good job for us. He gets an opportunity today - from our perspective we're quite comfortable he'll do a good job for us."

Celtic team: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Iwata, O'Riley, Jota, Maeda, Kyogo. Subs: Bain, Haksabanovic, Turnbull, Kobayashi, Oh, Bernabei, Summers, Welsh, Vata.

Ross County team: Laidlaw, Randall, Cancola, Iacovitti, Loturi, Harmon, White, Brophy, Edwards, Smith, Kenneh. Subs: Munro, Edwards, Callachan, Sims, Watson, Murray, Hiwula, Samuel, Stones.

Celtic Way:

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