Brendan Rodgers praised his Celtic side after they battled to a one-goal success against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The win moved Rodgers’ team ten points clear of second-placed Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand.

Tom Rogic scored a majestic goal from 20 yards out midway through the first half to put Celtic ahead but, despite dominating, they failed to add to their tally.

Stuart Armstrong missed the clearest chance to put delight between the teams while Dons stopper Joe Lewis was at his best to deny Scott Sinclair, Rogic and Moussa Dembele.

Aberdeen increased the pressure as the clock wound down, with manager Derek McInnes unhappy his side were not awarded a late penalty for a perceived pull on Graeme Shinnie by Jozo Simunovic.

Deep into stoppage time, Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon needed a reflex save to keep out a glancing header from teammate Erik Sviatchenko.

Rodgers admits it could have been more straightforward, but he was content to pick up maximum points on his first visit to a notoriously tough venue that has not been kind to Celtic recently.

“Any game I listened to over the years as a young supporter on the radio and watched here at Aberdeen, it’s always been a tough game and Celtic came here and lost twice last year. So a brilliant win for us in many aspects,” he said.

Celtic have averaged more than three goals a game so far in the Scottish Premiership but the Hoops boss revealed he had already been schooling his squad on the need to win when things do not click perfectly.

“I said to the players a few weeks ago, you have to learn to win 1-0 because you are not always going to score four or five or six goals,” Rodgers added.