Swansea 2 - 0 Celtic: Digested opinion

Swansea looked comfortable enough against Scottish giants Celtic with a 2-0 win, back at the Liberty Stadium for the first time since that immense game against Nottingham Forest.

During the first ten minutes it was actually quite nice to see a flare from the Celtic fans, momentarily turning the Liberty Stadium into the Stadio delle Alpi, before the stewards got involved for obvious health and safety reasons. Something different!

The resulting cloud of smoke had cleared up by the time the first goal was scored - Scott Sinclair took an edge of the area free kick which was on target but saved, though the spilled ball was mopped up by Rangel who made it 1-0 in the 63rd minute.

20 minutes later, a nice 20 yard run from Mark Gower set up substitute Stephen Dobbie who scored the second.

Like many fans, it was my first time seeing a number of the new players in action, including Gerhard Tremmel, who was in goals for the first half. Not officially a Swansea City player as he's still on trial, though he definitely took a step closer to signing after a solid performance between the posts, including a wonderful leaping save from a powerful Kris Commons strike on the 20th minute.

Up front, Danny Graham looked very hungry and strong, though not able to convert a few good chances into goals. Elsewhere, we only saw a little of Ryan Harley, though he looked keen enough while Steven Caulker looked a good pairing with Ashley Williams.

Moving onto the familiar faces, and the starting centre three of Allen, Britton and Agustien worked well in the first half, with opportunities being made, though the link play Stephen Dobbie usually creates was missing. Scott Sinclair looked a little rusty with his usually dazzling runs fizzling out to nothing and a one-on-one against Dominic Cervi on the 25 minute mark saw Sinclair try to poke the ball past the keeper a little too slowly and nothing came of the opportunity. He'll be back to his usual self by next week I'm sure.

Nathan Dyer was quieter than usual, though made some nice plays and showed good control and defensive ability at times. Nearing the end of the first half we saw him waltz past a few defenders before taking a shot, though this was saved too easily – when he finds out the how to score consistently, Dyer will be the best winger in the Premier League.

I know I am usually Luke Moore's biggest critic, but he looked fine when brought on for Dyer and made a good run towards the end of the match, before poking it through to Swansea's newest signing, fresh from Middlesbrough, Leroy Lita. Lita didn't have a great deal of time on the field, but showed strength in attack – I hope to see him start on Saturday.

Alan Tate had a great game, making sure he was always in plenty of space and went on a handful of good runs, as well as making a crucial defensive block. He captained the team well, and showed he will still fight for a place in the Premier League starting eleven.

Kemy Agustien impressed, with a good head at goal in the first half, though his temper got the best of him when some arguing saw him awarded a yellow card. He looked better than last season - a little faster and leaner - though no substitute for Stephen Dobbie's creativity up front, who kicked a little more life into the second half with purposeful runs and sharp vision.

Entertainment rating: an enjoyable game at times, though understandably had the slowness and flat points expected of a pre-season friendly: 5/10.

Kudos to the Celtic players, who gave it a go with a weakened team - Samaras and Brown impressed me. The Celtic fans were loud and proud, with aforementioned flares, green smoke bombs, odd Man City-esque dancing (Edit: the Celtic Huddle is what it's called! Thanks to the Celtic fans for setting me straight!) and plenty of song - a shame for them that their biggest cheer came from hearing Rangers were out of the Champions League qualifiers!

Saturday (against Real Betis) will be another, slightly different test for Brendan Rodgers' men and the last chance to tinker before the squad head to Manchester!