Celtic fielded what appeared to be a second-string side as he made a total of eight changes to his line-up, but still managed to edge Pirates 1-0 on the night.
Larsen admits that the changes were a gamble and that he was only trying to preserve his troops ahead of their crunch MTN 8 semi-final second leg against Kaizer Chiefs this weekend.
However, the Celtic tactician was delighted that the faith he showed in his squad actually paid off in the end.
"We took a big gamble... had we lost the game, people would have said 'why hadn't you played a stronger team?'," said Larsen.
"But we were so confident in what we saw from the boys at training that we knew they would do the club proud, and I'm very pleased with the performance."
The former Maritzburg United mentor also reserved special praise for a few of his players, while adding that a selection headache will be welcomed.
"That's the headache I want to have... Some boys were outstanding, and I thought the two wing-backs Lakay and Wayde Jooste were absolutely outsanding.
"Phalane and Ntanga in the middle of the field, and even [Dumisane] Zuma before we brought him out, I thought he caused [Pirates] major problems.
"So, it was such a big performance from the team and I'm very, very proud of the boys."