'We weren’t quite the Ferrari, but we’re a Range Rover Sport,' Brendan Rodgers

Q: That felt like a shot in the arm tonight. What did you make of the performance?

Brendan Rodgers: “I thought the performance was outstanding. As disappointed as we were at the weekend with the performance, I thought that was a really good level. We picked up injuries early on, so that could have disrupted it.

“The two young guys who came in, worked their socks off and contributed to the performance. We went behind to an absolutely brilliant goal. I just thought that throughout the game, we looked really creative and had lots of opportunities to score more goals.  Everything that you want in a team, the tempo, speed, aggression, energy, everything was there against a good side. Really pleased.”

Q: Does everything you talked about, plus battling through the adversity, give the side momentum and confidence going into the massive game Sunday?

Brendan Rodgers: “I said before the game to the players that we’ve really got to show leadership now and leadership qualities. In my experience with players, when those types of players are under pressure, they progress. You could see that from the weekend coming into this game, the pressure.

“But the progress in the team was so good, individually and collectively. 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. We’ve seen all of that tonight.

“It was a really pleasing performance, and I’m so happy for the likes of Benji because he had so many chances and he’s playing out of position, really, but he gets into the areas to get those opportunities and showed so much courage to keep going and eventually gets his goal. Arne Engels, I thought, was outstanding in the game, coming back in, gave us that energy and that fight, and his set-piece quality is really world-class, the level and speed at which he delivers. Overall, it was really pleasing.”

Q: How are the guys who were forced off? I guess the two in the first half, Alistair and Kelechi, didn’t look too good?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, it didn’t. We’ll see what that is, but it looks like a hamstring, which isn’t great. Second half, we wanted to take off Cameron, but we could only make one substitution in the second half, and ideally, we would have taken him off. So we’ll see what he’s like when he comes in the morning.”

Q: Do you know if any of those guys will be missing on Sunday yet? Is it too early to say just now?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes.”

Q: How much of a concern is that ahead of such a big game that you could be without such important guys when already there is perhaps a little bit of an issue with squad depth?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s not. Listen, I’m not worried about that. I’m only worried about how well we played tonight, and that’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 (Donovan) came in and performed and grew into the game and was very good. Johnny (Kenny) came in and worked really hard. We just have to accept that we have injuries. Tonight really is about the performance, which was very good.”

Q: There was a lot of talk about speed. You’ve mentioned it yourself in the build-up to this. Does it show tonight that when it clicks, it’s there? When everything works and it’s aligned, can that speed power through?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think it’s sometimes, like at the weekend with players, you have to be harsh to be clear. Then you hope that you get that reaction that these players know that I’m with them always. I spend my life dedicated to making this team better, making individuals better, and helping the club progress. At the weekend, it’s not good enough.

“So, tonight we weren’t quite the Ferrari, but we’re a Range Rover Sport, I’ll go for that tonight. Hopefully, we have no more Morris Minors in the performance. Not that they’re a bad car, they’re a fantastic car and amazing. I think we showed the level with determination tonight, and that’s what I expect to see going forward.”

Q: I think it was also evident after you got the equaliser, the noise from the crowd and the reaction of the players to the noise of the crowd. Does it show that when there is that unity from the stands and everyone else that that can be such a driving force for this team?

Brendan Rodgers: “It is, but I thought that was. I sensed it just before kick-off when the guys were in their huddle, and I could hear the crowd, and I really sensed that they knew that we needed them, and that’s the power of Celtic. Once the team is supported and they feel that, then they can go in and put those types of performances in. So, it was a great night for us, but it’s important now that we can move on from this.”

Q: Was that lost in the analysis of what you said on Sunday? Were you actually trying to publicly jolt some people into action rather than express some of your own frustration? Did that get lost in translation, almost?

Brendan Rodgers: “It normally does up here. It normally does get lost a bit, but listen, I’ve said it, very rarely will I come after players, anything that’s ever private, the boys know that. But like I say, I’ve been managing a long time, and sometimes, like I said, you have to be harsh to be clear sometimes.

“These are men, this is a club, it’s a big club that has huge expectations and pressure, and you have to know when the level’s not good enough, and they know they won’t have a more empathetic coach. I’m very much for the players; I always have been on any team that I’ve worked with. But we knew we needed to respond, and I’m so pleased with that progress and that response tonight because you can see that the performance level is there, but you have to have that determination, and thankfully, we had that.”

Q: Your goal when it came came from an unlikely source in Liam, but do you think Liam kind of typified your performance tonight and got the man of the match award at the end of the 90 minutes?

Brendan Rodgers: “He’s been my most consistent player in all my time here, been absolutely fantastic. He’s been a real robust stalwart for the team; you see how strong he was tonight. He can score goals, and I said before that we need everyone to be contributing to goals, but the goal comes from us playing at the tempo, we get the ball in, we get it going quickly, and then he makes the finish look a lot easier than what it was. I thought he was one of our real outstanding players tonight.”

Conor Spence

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