The Dutchman failed to score in Sunday's pulsating 3-2 defeat at Easter Road as he was kept in check by the defensive trio of Rob Jones, Chris Hogg and Guillaume Beuzelin.

The marksman's strike partner Scott McDonald also endured a frustrating afternoon as Celtic twice equalised in the game through Aiden McGeady and Gary Caldwell.

Strachan reckons Vennegoor of Hesselink should have been given greater protection from referee Alan Freeland and believes the striker did well to keep his cool.

He said: "Jan did well considering he was getting mauled one minute to the other. He did very well to keep his temper.

"A lot of players would have lost their rag but I thought he kept his temper well and kept his focus.

"Every time we had a diagonal ball he was absolutely dragged to the ground.

"He absolutely got mauled and I was told or read they were going to be stricter on that.

"Obviously that rule didn't apply on Sunday, he was the bigger man and he got dragged to the ground.

"You have to commend him on that, a lot of people would have been swinging their elbows. He played for the team.

"In saying that, I thought the referee had a good game apart from that."

Hibs manager John Collins, whose side took advantage of two Artur Boruc blunders to seal victory through Steven Fletcher, Thierry Gatheussi and Dean Shiels goals, acknowledged the danger posed by Vennegoor of Hesselink.

He said: "The bottom line is that he is a threat. He scores goals, he is good in the air and the last thing I am going to tell my central defenders is to stand off and admire him."

Meanwhile, despite back-to-back defeats after a loss in the Champions League to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic manager Strachan insists he is not worried about recent results.

He added: "I will deal with it, I've dealt with it before and I will deal with it again.

"We have been in a lot worse positions that this.

"As I said, I like what I am seeing."