Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media before Celtic entertain Falkirk on Saturday evening.
On Liam Scales' new contract, O'Neill says: "I'm delighted for him, delighted for the football club as well too. He's certainly proved himself this season, I don't know what he was like before I came in, but my two spells here, he's been absolutely outstanding. Certainly he's deserved the contract, he's done brilliantly."
O'Neill says he encouraged the board to extend Scales' deal, and likewise for James Forrest, who also signed a contract extension this week, adding on the latter: "I think it was a no-brainer, really, he's had a big impact here in games."
On Luke McCowan, who has also signed a new deal, O'Neill says: "He's done really well again for us. I think that, like anything else, he would like to start more games if he could, but he's been excellent."
O'Neill insists Celtic are being "proactive" in handing out new contracts despite not having a permanent manager in place. He says: "I think that the new manager coming in, one; would accept that he would definitely want these players. Two; are they fit enough to do the job? Yes. Three; are they good enough to do the job? Absolutely."
On his role in the club's summer recruitment, O'Neill says: "I haven't really involved myself. I look at the players, I have an opinion. But that's what I have, an opinion, and my opinion might differ from whoever else might come in."
Full-back Alistair Johnston could return to the squad on Saturday, aiding Celtic in the problem area of right-back. "That's good news for us... we're getting stronger in that sense. Of course, we've missed the big players throughout the course of the year," says O'Neill.
The Northern Irishman knows that given the number of players who will be coming back from loans in the summer, it will be an "oversized squad" and that is "something you would really have to look into".
Kelechi Iheanacho, O'Neill says, is "staying fit" when asked if he will play more between now and the end of the season: "Overall, he has made a big impact in the last couple of weeks. And it looks as if he's staying fit."
He adds: "You can see that he's been a player. His control is really good... honestly, I've been really pleased with him. He could easily start in the games."
On Callum McGregor's comments about the club having to match his ambition, O'Neill says: "I don't know whether it was an entanglement of words, I genuinely don't know this here, but I think that, I've mentioned before, I think we want to try and be proactive."
He continues: "But when everybody settles down, you'd want Celtic to be really properly competitive, really competitive. Because you don't see Hearts going away, you see Rangers getting stronger, and Celtic have got to be ready for those challenges, and if that's the clarion call, well, so be it."
On Falkirk: "I think that they will be really disappointed not getting to the cup final. The games we've played have been really tough, not just the game that we played down at Falkirk, but the matches here have been tough, and that's exactly what I expect."