What did we learn from Celtic’s win over Ross County?

Celtic put in a dominant performance in Saturday’s victory over Malky MacKay’s Ross County side. The Staggies faced an uphill battle from the off as defender James Brown was dismissed after just 10 minutes for a late tackle on Yang Hyun-jun, and from then on it was one-way traffic as the scoreline came nowhere near to telling the full story of what was an utterly commanding display from the champions.

Goals from David Turnbull, as well as substitute Luis Palma and James Forrest, helped Celtic along the way to all three points, and the scoreline would have been far more elaborate had it not been for the goalkeeping exploits of Staggies’ stopper Ross Laidlaw, who made 13 saves over the 90 minutes.

There was plenty to take from one of the most complete performances of the season,with Brendan Rodgers making half-a-dozen changes to the side that lined up to face St Mirren in mid-week.

Here are A Celtic State of Mind’s three takeaways from the weekend’s victory in Dingwall.

Palma putting up numbers

Luis Palma continued his hot start to life at Parkhead as, not only did he net a long-range screamer (one which will surely be a contender for goal of the season), but he also provided the creative spark as he dinked his cross high to the back post for James Forrest to head home for the third.

The 23-year-old is averaging a goal contribution every 66 minutes so far in his Celtic career – a stat that is swiftly endearing him to the Celtic fanbase. He has shown a knack for scoring cracking goals, the evidence being his finishes at Fir Park and Dingwall, but he also has a tendency to produce when the pressure is on, as he netted Celtic’s second goal against Atletico Madrid to send Celtic Park into raptures.

The Honduran has only been on an upward trajectory since joining the champions and he will be looking to continue that rise in the next few weeks.

This isn’t a purple patch for Scales

Scales’ form this season has been outstanding, but many expected it to be nothing more than a freak run of games and that he would revert back to his old self soon enough. On the contrary, he is only getting better, and it looks like it wasn’t just a purple patch the Irishman was going through as he is fast becoming one of the most important and consistent performers in the Celtic team this season.

He has been one of the highest scorers in A Celtic State of Mind’s team ratings over the course of the season, rarely slipping below a 7. His diagonal passing range was on full display against Ross County as he was the one dictating the play against Malky MacKay’s rigid and organised side, rather than the usual Callum McGregor.

Scales is adding new strings to his bow with every passing week, and there will be an excitement to see if he can keep these performance levels for the rest of the season as well as maintaining his place as the starting centre-back alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Fringe players continue to perform

The main takeaway from the mid-week visit of St Mirren to Celtic Park was the part that the team’s fringe players had to play in securing the victory over the Buddies. Odin Holm, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yang Hyun-Jun all had a positive impact on the night and gave the team the necessary edge to see the game through.

Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yang Hyun-jun were rewarded for their cameos with a start in Dingwall, and they both seized the opportunity and put in good performances. Oh was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet, with two goals he was involved in being chopped off by either VAR or the linesman.

Yang was terrorising James Brown in the opening stages before being fouled by the Englishman which led to his dismissal. Other rotation players also shone on the day, with Anthony Ralston and David Turnbull putting in steady displays in the Celtic team.

JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE