I TRUST MY BHOYS TO GET JOB DONE

Rodgers confident on Euro mission despite transfer inactivity

BRENDAN RODGERS has insisted that he has faith in his squad to get Celtic into the group stages of the Uefa Champions League.

The Celtic boss was foiled in his quest to get Patrick Roberts in ahead of last night’s 11pm signing deadline, with the England under-20 star on the bench for Manchester City in Spain last night.

The Hoops boss had hoped to have added to his squad before the

deadline, however, he remains confident that his Treble winning squad can carry Celtic back into the elite group stages of Europe’s premier tournament.

Celtic are in constant dialogue with City regarding Roberts, but the situation is at an impasse. It may be that it is the final days of the window before the situation is resolved.

Celtic host Astana this evening in the first leg of the critical UEFA Champions League play-off but Rodgers has insisted that he has every faith in his team.

“If you go back to the beginning of this campaign, I said I felt the players who got us here would be the ones who would get us through the qualification,” said Rodgers.

“I really felt that about the group. Of course we have lost some decisive players who are out injured, but I genuinely thought the players who helped us get here would get us through.

“If we could get some in, great. If not, it was going to be a long season and I needed the ones we wanted in by the end of August.

“We got a few in but we need more, there’s no doubt about that. Clearly we are missing some players that are decisive for us and we want to make the squad stronger.

“But that only happens when you have two parties that are willing to work together to get the deal done.”

And Rodgers believes that the growing maturity within his side well prepare them for this evening.

“Ideally, you want to take a win, but the game against Rosenborg in the last round and the game in Astana last season shows you we can get results away,” said the Celtic manager.

“I look back at the images of last year’s team and how we play, it’s a different animal to last year.

“I look at the spaces and how open we were last year. It was just a different team with a different idea. Mentally, it was just trying to get them through it. But the team now plays in a different way and I think that will, hopefully, benefit us.

“We’ll take that into the game with the energy of the crowd and, if we have to be patient as we might have to do, we have to be compact and take our chances when they come.”

Rodgers has been boosted by Leigh Griffiths’ return to fitness following a calf complaint, while Dedryck Boyata is also expected to return quicker than anticipated.

There was disappointing news, however, for Kouassi Eboue who will undergo ankle surgery tomorrow.

Rodgers said: “Two of the players went to London to have check-ups. Boyata is good news. He comes back and he’ll be back in early September.

“Kouassi will have an operation on his ankle. The knee is stable, but there was a bit at his ankle similar to what Tom Rogic had and it puts him at six to nine weeks, which is a shame for him because he was doing so well.”