A 90th-minute strike by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink gave the home side a dramatic victory after it looked like the three points could have been heading north.

The Dutchman fired Celtic into a first half lead but former Hoops' player Charlie Mulgrew, on as a first half substitute for Scott Severin, drilled home the equaliser in the 56th minute before curling a wonderful free-kick past Artur Boruc eight minutes later.

Scott McDonald, on for Marc Crosas, headed home the equaliser in the 77th minute to level the scores before the Holland international squeezed Aiden McGeady's cross in at the near post to send a frenzied Celtic Park in raptures borne mostly of relief.

Strachan revealed that right-back Andreas Hinkel will miss the trip to Villarreal with a thigh strain while midfielder Barry Robson is struggling after having an injection in his injured groin.

Strachan said: "I would have liked it to have been easier in the last 20 minutes and I'm sure the players would have liked to have been easier.

"But Aberdeen didn't make it easy for them.

"I watched them during the week and told my players that they are good at attacking, they have strength and pace and I was proved right.

"From a coach's point of view, it's not easy to watch games like that but for the fans - and that's why we are here - we have to try and entertain and try and win and we have achieved both. Aberdeen achieved the entertaining part."

Strachan admitted that time appeared to stand still when Dons striker Darren Mackie ran through on goal in injury time to beat Boruc with his chip only for the ball to trickle past the post.

He said: "It's that long wait after he kicks it until you find out if it is going to hit the net.

"It's a long, long wait. It was a couple of seconds but it seemed like 20 minutes.

"But that's typical of us. We are one up with 15 seconds to go and we start playing across the park and attacking."

Vennegoor of Hesselink, who welcomed the competition for starting slots at Celtic Park this season, said: "It was very important result for us and it is always nice to score goals if you are a striker.

"There is healthy competition here and it is helping us to achieve."

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood insisted his side's performance was, not for the first time since he became boss at Pittodrie, a source of pain and frustration.

He said: "Football is wonderful game but it can be cruel at times and you have to learn from your mistakes.

"We went 1-0 behind from a sloppy goal, again, from our point of view but we got the equaliser and went ahead and at that time I thought we deserved it.

"Celtic shoved on quality players, Aiden McGeady and Scott McDonald, and we stopped doing what we are good at from then on.

"It was easier for them to get their crosses in and they got the equaliser.

"Charlie, who was brilliant when he came on, was still trying to play football and got caught in possession, Foster missed the rebound and we were getting beat 3-2 in a game that we could have won but didn't deserve to lose.

"In the last couple of seconds we got through and Darren's missed and that's the phase we are in at the moment.

"The plus point is we can do that at an arena like Celtic Park so we should be able to do it at Pittodrie.

"That's why we get annoyed at them."

A disappointed Mulgrew said: "I was delighted with my two goals but gutted that we couldn't hang on to at least take a point.

"The boys can be proud of themselves."