Rodgers<\/a> took flak for his remarks after Sunday\u2019s shock defeat at Dens Park but hopes his comeback heroes will finally begin to hit top gear.<\/p>\nHe said: \u201cSometimes, like at the weekend, you have to be harsh to be clear. And then you hope that you get that reaction, that these players know that I’m with them always.<\/p>\n
“I spend my life dedicated to making this team better, making the individuals better, helping the club progress. And at the weekend, it wasn’t not good enough.<\/p>\n
“So tonight, we weren’t quite the Ferrari – a Range Rover Sport, I would have thought. Hopefully, we have no more Morris Minors in the performance – not that they’re a bad car. It’s a fantastic car.<\/p>\n
“We showed the level with determination tonight. And that’s what I expect to see going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodgers was over the moon with the response of his troops who have come in for heavy criticism this season.<\/p>\n
The gaffer waxed lyrical over Arne Engels as the \u00a311million midfielder ran the show in a rare start.<\/p>\n
And he was relieved to see Swedish playmaker Nygren finally deliver the goods after wasting a flurry of chances.<\/p>\n
He beamed: \u201cI said before the game to the players that we really have to show leadership now and leadership qualities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my experience with players, when those types of players are under pressure, they progress.<\/p>\n
“You can see that from the weekend, coming into this game, the pressure. But the progress in the team was so good individually and collectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, whenever you have a setback, which we’ve had a number of, but in particular at the weekend, then those leaders show the motivation to go again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve seen all of that tonight. It was a really, really pleasing performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m so happy for the likes of Benji because he had so many chances and he’s playing out of position really.<\/p>\n
“But he gets into the areas to get those opportunities and showed so much courage to keep going. Eventually, he gets his goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cArne Engels I thought was outstanding in the game. Coming back in, he gave us that energy in that fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis set-piece quality really is world-class at the level and speed at which he delivers. Overall, it was really pleasing.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Rodgers faces an injury crisis ahead of Sunday\u2019s title crunch at Tynecastle as Kelechi Iheanacho, Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers all hobbled off.<\/p>\n
Iheanacho was hooked just minutes after kick-off with a muscle issue, while Johnston cut a distraught figure after a recurrence of the hamstring problem that kept him sidelined since August.<\/p>\n
Stopper Carter-Vickers then crumbled to the deck at full-time and was helped off the pitch by physio Tim Williamson.<\/p>\n
And with Daizen Maeda facing a late fitness test, Celtic head to Gorgie this weekend with a depleted squad.<\/p>\n
On Iheanacho and Johnston\u2019s injuries, Rodgers said: \u201cThey didn\u2019t look good. We’ll see what that is, but it looks like hamstring which isn’t great.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the second half, we wanted to take off Cameron, but we could only make one substitution in the second-half. Ideally, we would have taken him off, so we’ll see what he’s like when he comes in the morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not worried about that. I’m really only worried about how we played tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s our focus. We’ll see what it is in the morning. If they’re not available, you’ve seen the level that young Colby came in and performed and grew into the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very good. Jonny came in and worked really, really hard. So, yes, we just have to accept if we have injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut tonight, we really had a good performance, which was very good.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boss was buzzing after the big win and he made something clear 23:16, 23 Oct 2025Updated 23:24,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12876,7336,2817,2600,59,55591,30599,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-221507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alistair-johnston","9":"tag-brendan-rodgers","10":"tag-celtic-fc","11":"tag-europa-league","12":"tag-gb","13":"tag-kelechi-iheanacho","14":"tag-liam-scales","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_JS385532368.jpg\")
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers applauds the fans following the UEFA Europa League match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Picture date: Thursday October 23, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow\/PA Wire.<\/p>\n