GLASGOW (AFP) - Gordon Strachan slammed the hysterical reaction to Celtic's recent run of poor form after watching his side maul Motherwell 4-1 on Sunday.

The Celtic manager had come in for increasing criticism from a section of the Parkhead club's supporters and from the Scottish media as his side struggled in recent weeks.

After being knocked out of the Scottish Cup at home to Aberdeen, Strachan's side lost away to Rangers and at home to Motherwell to all but end their chances of a third straight Scottish Premier League title.

This led to calls from some Celtic fans for Strachan to leave the club.

However the Celtic boss has always maintained his side have been playing well despite these defeats and that the only problem was their failure to convert their chances.

And, ahead of a crunch Old Firm match at home to Rangers on Wednesday which could breathe new life into Celtic's title hopes, Strachan hit back at his critics.

He said: "After Sunday's game someone told me it was a great performance. It was a fully committed performance but it just shows you what goals can do.

"I have to stay above the emotion. Some people might not like that but I've told the players they are doing a lot of things right.

"When we lost to Motherwell the previous week we had far more chances, played better football and their goalkeeper made more saves but we didn't score.

"That's football though and the most important statistic is scoring goals. We can now breathe a little easier and not spend the next few days scratching our heads and wondering what's going wrong.

"That's what we've been doing after the last five games where we have been wondering what more we can do to win a game of football."

Strachan is now hoping his side's emphatic victory against Motherwell can help them beat Rangers on Wednesday to keep their title hopes alive.

He said: "I still hope we have a chance to win the title. It would be nice to continue our league challenge and make it more interesting."

Celtic midfielder Paul Hartley also believes Sunday's win could help the Parkhead club's chances of success against Rangers.

He said: "We've always had a good team spirit but results just haven't been going our way. Our performances have been good but we've not been getting the goals and have not been taking our chances.

"We know it will be a hard game on Wednesday but we have a lot more confidence now after beating Motherwell.

"We must win every game and see where that takes us at the end of the season so a victory against Rangers is vital for us."

On Sunday Celtic took the lead in the 17th minute through a Stephen McManus header.

The Celtic captain then scored at the other end in the 24th minute, knocking Ross McCormack's shot into the empty net to level the scores.

However, former Motherwell striker Scott McDonald scored his 27th goal of the season to restore the visitors' lead.

And Dutch international Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink completed the comfortable victory with a brace, the first a powerful header just before half-time and then a fine finish from 12-yards in the 57th minute.