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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Josh McCafferty

Brendan Rodgers delivers verdict on Maik Nawrocki's Pittodrie performance

Brendan Rodgers has delivered his verdict on Maik Nawrocki's performance at Pittodrie. 

The central defender came in for only his third start of the season, and scored his first Celtic goal with a fine header that broke the deadlock against Aberdeen. 

Nawrocki looked assured in his defending and appeared more than comfortable when playing out from the backline. 


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Although he hasn't given Nawrocki many opportunities this campaign, Rodgers was impressed with his performance on Wednesday: "I thought he played through the lines really, really well, defended well, and obviously, he was very dangerous in the box," said the Celtic manager. 

"[It was a] great header for his first goal. So, yes, I was pleased with the two centre-halves.

"It was awkward for Auston in the first half, because he was blinded a wee bit with the sun on that side. But I thought those two were strong. Defended well, goalkeeper was assured, two full-backs, excellent.

"It was very pleasing."

Celtic now round off their Scottish Premiership campaign this weekend when St Mirren make the short trip to Glasgow's east end. Rodgers' men will be presented with the league title post-match. 

Given he made eight changes to his team at Pittodrie midweek and they still emphatically won, the Celtic manager may have been given some food for thought ahead of the Scottish Cup final in 10 days. 

He played down chatter over that particular subject, however: "The three games that we would play [Hibs, Aberdeen and St Mirren], I said I was going to change the team," quipped Rodgers. 

"We did that tonight and it was to get the guys into the best possible place for the cup final.

"[There were] so many good performances this evening, individually. So the guys got minutes in their legs, some of the guys that haven't been playing for a little while. But not just minutes, they've got a real good performance in their legs as well.

"It just sets us up really nice for the weekend and then we can prepare for the final."

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