SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE:NEIL LENNON described his Celtic players as "brilliant" after Gary Hooper's dramatic injury-time winner against St Mirren took them back to within a point of leaders Rangers.

The game at New St Mirren Park came alive in the second half, but looked to be heading for a draw until the former Scunthorpe striker pounced with seconds remaining of three added minutes to grab his 10th goal since signing in the summer.

The winner sparked wild scenes of celebration among the travelling support which owed much to relief, but the Celtic boss insisted his side deserved their win and had special praise for skipper Shaun Maloney and midfielder Ki Sung-yueng.

“We were brilliant,” he said. “Absolutely brilliant. I wasn’t even ranting and raving at half-time.

“I thought that we could have done a little bit better in the final third, but I wouldn’t have been disappointed to draw the game.

“You could have held your hands up and said it might not have been our day today, but the fact we were creating good chances and they still believed they could win the game.

“So their attitude and application was tremendous and I thought we got what we deserved today. Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football, but we did.

“The substitutes Niall McGinn, Paddy McCourt and Daryl Murphy made a huge impact when they come on. I thought Ki and Maloney were world class today and defensively we were excellent as well.”

Lennon also revealed he will appeal against the automatic two-match touchline ban he is facing after being sent off by referee Craig Thomson in the 2-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle in midweek.

Rangers failed to match Celtic’s scoring spree against Aberdeen in a 2-0 win at Ibrox on Saturday. Celtic put nine past the Dons a week ago, but goals from Kenny Miller and Vladimir Weiss sealed the win.

Dundee United and Kilmarnock shared the spoils at Tannadice. The visitors opened the scoring after 22 minutes when former Republic of Ireland Under-21 Conor Sammon latched on to Mehdi Taouil’s clever pass and smashed the ball low past Dusan Pernis.

Peter Houston’s men drew level within a minute when Johnny Russell prodded the ball past Bell for his second goal for the club.

Inverness’ former Ireland Under-21 duo Adam Rooney and Jonny Hayes helped the Highland club come from behind to win 3-1 at Hamilton and extend their near year-long record of remaining undefeated in away league action

Rooney netted twice in 10 early second-half minutes, with a Hayes goal sandwiched in between.