HIGHER AND DRIER

Rodgers feels like he’s taking a tumble on the sidelines during these crunch European clashes

BRENDAN RODGERS says looks can be deceiving when Champions League qualification is on the line.

The Celtic boss will be trying to exude calmness on the sideline as his side do battle with Rosenborg in Norway tonight.

But he admits he is likely to be put through the ringer, just as he was in a fraught play-off in Israel 12 months ago.

Rodgers said: “I just think you have to think clearly. Inside you can be like a tumble drier.

“In Beer Sheva last year there was no calmness. It was a test.

“My heartbeat was in my head that night.

“That night we couldn’t pass it – we just tried everything in that game.

“But that’s an example of nervousness from a team which, naturally, hasn’t qualified for a time, trying to find a new way of working.

“But there’s night and day difference now.

“The best way to cope with it is: have the ball, press hard, be aggressive and just do your best.

“We all know the consequence if we don’t.”

Rodgers wants calculation not just perspiration but knows it’s all too often the opposite in his adopted nation.

When the going gets tough in Scotland the natural instinct it to treat the ball like it’s a grenade.

He said: “That’s down to the nerve of the coach.

“If they get under pressure and they put that pressure onto the players then naturally the players will get rid of it.

“But you want your players to pass it and there’s a difference between getting rid of it and passing it.

“In Scotland you like to get rid of it. Most teams, not every team, but that’s what you try and do.

“Then you wonder why, 20 years later, you haven’t qualified for a World Cup.”

That’s why Rodgers has been trying to hone his side as a European team from Scotland rather than a Scottish team in Europe.

He said: “We are trying to create a game that is suited for European football at the top level, not just Scottish football, with all due respect.

“We are imposing a way of working that is for the highest level.

For that, it is technique, speed and tactical awareness.

“You can see the players are improving with that all the time and the first leg was a great example.

“They had patience with the ball. Everyone wants to score, but you can’t always do that in these games. “You have to be streetwise.

“You might only get couple of chances so you have to be ready to take them.”

Rodgers added: “Here, it is physically difficult because there’s a mismatch physically.

“It’s a team halfway through its season against a team that’s only starting.

“You have to find an answer.” Rodgers is expecting Rosenborg to try to frustrate like they did in Glasgow last week.

“We had 800-odd passes in the first leg. I don’t think Rosenborg will open up too much here.

“If a team opens up against us, we have the quality in our game to score goals.

“We know we can score and there will be an impetus on the home team to come out a little bit more.”