BRENDAN Rodgers last night insisted Celtic are in good shape ahead of the Champions League play-off matches despite his side needing a late goal to beat St Mirren in their opening William Hill Premiership fixture at Parkhead yesterday.
A strike from substitute Luke McCowan with three minutes of regulation time remaining ensured the Scottish champions avoided dropping points at home in their first league game of the new season.
But Rodgers stressed that he was happy with his team’s display afterwards and singled out the visitors’ keeper Shamal George, who pulled off a string of outstanding saves to keep the scoreline level, for special praise.
Celtic will discover who they will come up against in the Champions League play-off when the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland, this morning.
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They will find themselves up against Basel or Sturm Graz or the winner of the outstanding ties between Slovan Bratislava and Kairat, Shkendija and Qarabag and Dynamo Kyiv and Pafos. The games will be played on August 19/20 and 26/27.
Rodgers, who lost striker Kyogo Furuhashi back in January and winger Nicolas Kuhn during the summer, has admitted that he is keen to strengthen his side in the forward areas. But the Northern Irishman emphasised that he is satisfied with how his team is currently performing.
“To win in the first game of the season is always good and it rounds off a lot of the good work that we’ve done over pre-season,” he said. “I'm absolutely pleased with the performance.
“Everyone knows St Mirren and Stephen Robinson's qualities. They’re such a hard team to break down. You have to be aware of the threat on the counter-attack, the physicality at set-pieces. All of that we dealt so well with and the keeper’s made some brilliant saves, which then keeps the game in the balance.
“At times we moved the ball really well. At other times we could have attacked a wee bit more when we got into certain positions and been a bit more aggressive in the one v one moments.
“Sometimes you need a wee bit of good fortune as well. We didn't quite have that, but some of them hit the post and the bar. You have to give credit to their keeper and to St Mirren.
“Teams aren't just going to roll up here. We see a lot of them. Teams are banked up and tight and compact. You've got to move side to side, to penetrate, to cross, to create half-spaces for crosses, all these things.
“There is no space, it's not a 50-50 game like Newcastle or Sporting Lisbon for example, that you've seen in pre-season. There's no space, it's tight, it's compact and I thought the players came through so well. We got into a lot of good areas. We created a lot today and dominated the game.”
Asked for his thoughts about the Champions League play-off double header, Rodgers continued, “I'm feeling really good. We've had a great, really, really good pre-season. The players are shaping up very well and are working very hard. There's real spirit and solidarity here in the team. So we look forward to that.
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“We know whoever we get it's going to be tough, but it will also be tough for them. And we will accept whatever challenge comes. We'll be ready for the games. Whenever they come, we'll be ready. The players are working very hard. They are always tense games. But we're in a good place and we'll take that game on when it comes.”
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, the Manchester City centre-back, watched the game from the stands and Rodgers is hopeful that Celtic can finalise his season-long loan deal at Parkhead in the coming days.
“We're still waiting for clearance on that one,” he said. “But he's up here. Obviously, once it's definite, then it'll be announced. But, yes, he's up here and is ready for the move.
“Your centre-halves need to be strong at Celtic. Sometimes you're not doing a great deal. You're stood on the halfway line and you're attacking a lot of the time. But you also need to be able to defend space. That area is always so important in any team. Your centre-halves need to be dominant and we've got really good options there now.”
Rodgers feels that he needs to increase competition for places in the front three before the transfer window closes on September 1. “It's just about improving,” he said. “There's areas that we want to improve in the forward line. That's something that we hope we can do over these remaining weeks.”
