Hoops must have faith in their own ability, says Rodgers
BRENDAN Rodgers has urged his Celtic players not to be frightened to make mistakes against RB Leipzig tonight.
The Hoops boss will have to dig into his squad for the Europa League Group B game in the Red Bull Arena after midfielder Tom Rogic joined the list of absentees which include the suspended James Forrest, injured skipper Scott Brown and striker Leigh Griffiths, while defender Filip Benkovic is a doubt.
Rodgers, whose side have three points from their first two fixtures, challenged those fringe players who will come in to make their mark and, in the first of a double-header against the German side, he is looking for a better performance after their 3-1 defeat to Salzburg in their last European outing.
The Carnlough man said: “We have a few injuries. Scott will probably be out for two to three weeks which of course is disappointing. It’s a low grade calf strain.
“We have a few other players. Leigh hasn’t returned to training and Tom Rogic hasn’t travelled — he has an issue with his knee. We’re managing Filip Benkovic so we’ll see how he is over the next 24 hours.
“We have one or two issues but it’s okay, we have a number of young players who have been training very hard and working hard to have the opportunity to play. So we look forward to seeing them.
“Naturally, over the couple of games it’s important to get results. After the last time in Salzburg, okay we lost the game but I want to see a better performance.
“It’s key coming into these games that we think about performing well. When we play to that quality and players play with confidence then we have a much greater chance of getting a result.
“It’s about going and performing and taking that confidence of going to play and not being frightened to make mistakes.
“We’re playing against one of the top teams in Germany but we still have to show our way of playing and when we do that we know we can cause problems. That’s what we’re looking to do, perform well and then look at getting a result from that.”
Rodgers believes that, irrespective of the result against RB Leipzig, his side, who have scored 10 goals in their last two Ladbrokes Premiership matches, will still go into Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final against Hearts at Murrayfield with optimism.
He said: “No matter the result, we’ll go into the game at the weekend with confidence and looking to reach another final.
“We’ve had tough midweek games in Europe over the last couple of years and, no matter the result, we’ve come out of that and played well.”
Rodgers admitted that Marvin Compper, signed from this evening’s opponents at the start of the year, is likely to remain on the fringes at the Parkhead club.
The 33-year-old defender has played only once for the Hoops — in a William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Morton in March — and is not even in the Hoops’ European squad.
Earlier this week, Compper (below) said: “I’m fit and I train very well. Even my team-mates do not understand why I do not play.
“In the summer I had a calf injury. I got an athletic trainer and a physio at my own expense and made myself fit. Now it is up to the coach Brendan Rodgers to finally give me the trust.
“I still have a contract until 2020, but of course I do not want to sit on the bench.
“In August, Celtic suggested to me about a change of club. But I do not want to move on so easily. I hope for my chance and want to play.”
Rodgers last night explained: “Unfortunately, he had been injured for a lot of the six months of first arriving.
“In the summer I said to him that his game time was very limited and if he wanted to play regular football in his remaining years he would probably have to move. He decided to stay and I respect that decision.
“I was open and clear with him that in that time a lot of players had come in and have jumped ahead of him in the queue at centre-half so his game time has been and probably will be very limited.” ≈ CRAIG Levein believes the changes made to Betfred Cup semi-final arrangements have helped treble the amount of Hearts fans that will back his team against Celtic on Sunday.
Levein described initial plans to play both games at Hampden on the same day as “absolute madness” and his criticism helped secure a change.
Hearts feared an evening kickoff in Glasgow would have kept thousands of their supporters away but Levein has been surprised by how many will turn out at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon.
“The thing that benefits us is the amount of supporters we will have in the stadium because of the change in venue and kick-off time,” Levein said.
“Now we are over 27,000 sales and that’s more than we take to finals given the capacity at Hampden. So it’s a great thing for the players to know that people are putting their hands in their pocket to come and watch them.”