Brendan looks for Hoops to get off to flier
BRENDAN Rodgers believes Celtic will hit the ground running as they prepare for their first game since the winter break.
The Parkhead side will host Brechin this afternoon in the William Hill Scottish Cup as they look to take a step on a journey that could lead to a back-to-back Treble for the first time in their history.
“When you think of the games we’ve had, we’ve a lot less in the second half of the season compared to what we played first half,” said Rodgers.
“So we pressed the refresh button in Dubai and we’re really excited now for the second part of the season.
“We’ll definitely be a lot fresher. I think it’s natural, the players did brilliant to get through to that point of the season and through December when it was demanding a real burden on your physicality and mentality but they came through it well, finished the league eight points ahead.
“We played a large chunk of the games in that period and now we can recover and get ready for the second part, where we’ll play a lot less games.
“We’re competitors. We made good use of the breather and now we come back and get ready to compete. That’s what we want to do.”
Brechin arrive in Glasgow with the ignominious stat of not having won a league game this season. It has been a difficult time for Darren Dods, the Brechin manager, but Rodgers believes he has watched enough of the side to believe the players are still performing for the former defender.
“I look at Brechin and I have studied them and watched them and see they are at the bottom league,” said Rodgers. “I don’t think they have won a game and have four draws but when I look at the team, they are playing for the manager.
“When you study them and watch them it is not as if it is a team that is downing tools and not playing or not working for him. It has been tough for him, of course, but this with 60,000 at Celtic Park will give them some motivation. We just have to focus on ourselves and do what we normally do.
“They are a team that is part-time in what is predominantly a full-time league. The guys there are giving their all. We expect to go into the game, work well and get through.”
Aside from the fact it is the first game since the draw with Rangers at the end of December which would always suggest the emergence of a strong starting XI, Rodgers has lived through making too many changes for a Cup game before.
“The first season [at Liverpool] we lost away to Oldham,” he said. “I changed the team around quite a lot in for the FA Cup. It wasn’t the first game because we had beaten Mansfield away, Daniel Sturridge scored his first goal, and then we played up in Oldham away from home. There were a lot of changes and we were punished for it.”