'Impressive Hamilton a positive after ruthless Celtic finishing'

There aren't many tougher tasks in Scottish football than facing a Celtic side full of confidence and on top form. That was the challenge that faced Ross County on Saturday as they travelled to Glasgow to face Brendan Rodgers' side.

The Staggies witnessed first hand how ruthless Celtic can be as the hosts ran out 5-0 winners, with all five goals coming in the first forty minutes of the match.

Against better quality opposition, you don't want to show them any signs of encouragement. In the opening exchanges, County did well to stand firm against the early Celtic onslaught from open play and looked like they'd settled into the game well. Unfortunately, the positive start unravelled from a simple set piece where Luke McCowan's corner found Liam Scales unmarked in the box - a hugely frustrating concession.

Despite the early setback, Don Cowie's side quickly recomposed themselves and looked comfortable in their shape for the following 15 minutes as they tried to build their way back into the game. However, Eli Campbell failed to close down McCowan quickly enough as the Celtic midfielder turned and fired the ball beyond Ross Laidlaw to double Celtic's lead.

With all the momentum with the home side, things went bad to worse for the Staggies as goals from Paulo Bernardo, Calum McGregor and Adam Idah in the space of five minutes put the home side 5-0 up in a display of ruthless finishing. At that point, some County fans feared Celtic would hit double figures by full-time.

Thankfully, Celtic failed to further add to the scoreline in the second half. This was due to the impressive performance of goalkeeper Jack Hamilton, who replaced the injured Ross Laidlaw on the stroke of half-time and made several key saves. It must have been a daunting feeling to come onto the park at 5-0 down, but Hamilton stood up to the challenge really well.

Ross Morren can be found on the County Corner podcast.