BORING ROARING
Rodgers: Accies grind edges us to glory
BRENDAN RODGERS reckons his Celtic side were boring in the weekend win over Hamilton.
But the title party they edged closer to enjoying as a result will be anything but as the boss looks to make quick work of wrapping up seven in a row.
Rodgers accepts the 2-1 win ground out on Accies’ unpopular plastic pitch was far from the kind of entertainment he wants his players to provide the punters. But he reckons the staying power they showed deserved praise.
Rodgers said: “It’s difficult on that surface for the speed of the game and it was probably a bit of a bore for supporters.
“Sometimes you tend to think you can score five or six against 10 men but it’s not always the case and we’ve seen that against ourselves.
“It was important to get the victory and we did that.
“It’s been a long season for us and last week was always going to be tough, playing against three teams (Hamilton, Dundee and Ross County) who are all fighting for different reasons to be in the league.
“Once we got the goal early in the second half it wasn’t the best spectacle for supporters and I don’t think a lot of games are on that surface. It was just a case of completing the job.”
That Leigh Griffiths was the man to finish that job will come as no surprise to Hoops fans who have seen the popular hitman pull them through on countless occasions in the past.
Only just back playing last week after shrugging off the calf injury that had ruled him out for two months, Griffiths’s goal strengthened his case to be given a starting slot in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers.
Speaking to the Celtic View, Rodgers added: “He has a great energy in the game and his movement’s good. Actually, for the goal he scored the initial movement came from him. He’s really bright. He’s a goal threat and that’s why you put him on.
“You know, whether he starts or comes on, there’s a great chance for you to get a goal and he was very good when he came on.”
Rodgers has a perfect record at Hampden with six wins since taking charge. And he will use last month’s thrilling 3-2 win at Ibrox – when Celts twice came from behind and had Jozo Simunovic sent off – to hammer home the message to his players they’re never beaten no matter the situation.
He said: “We showed in that game, despite being at a disadvantage, we have the same mentality to pull through whatever the circumstances.
“I’m very excited. These are always tense games but in the main we’ve always played well at Hampden so hopefully we can have a similar result and performance.”
With Griffiths in the frame to give competition for Moussa Dembele, added to the recent return of other key men such as Kieran Tierney, Patrick Roberts and Stuart Armstrong, Rodgers has some big choices to make before Sunday’s Hampden showdown.
He said: “You want the availability of the players as often as you can and this season it’s been broken a lot with various injuries compared to last season.
“It was important to get as many players available for this game as possible.
“We’ve got a good week’s training ahead of us and we’ll look forward to hopefully getting a victory.”