Glasgow Times

If the game was at Celtic Park I don’t know that I would be so inclined to change the team

-

weeks but going away from home is different.

I know that Rosenborg look like the whipping boys of the group but they are still top of their own league by a fair distance and there is no team who walks onto a park looking to lose a game.

They might only be playing for pride on Thursday night but they won’t want to go down without a fight.

With or without Brown, though, I think Celtic are capable of going there and getting a result. A draw could be enough but ideally you want to go there with the mindset of winning the game.

The fact that they have fared so well over Rosenborg in

‘‘

the games that they have played against them over the last 18 months could well give them some sort of psychologi­cal edge but the most important thing is simply focussing on the here and now.

A win would really tee up a big finale against Salzburg in December and the way that the team have been playing of late would certainly lend itself to the theory that they are good enough to qualify out of the group.

James Forrest has been exceptiona­l over the last few months and his goals for Scotland underlined the confidence and belief that he is playing with right now.

It is not just the performanc­e or the goals he scored but the quality of each of them. That second one against Albania was special and the thing about it is how easy he made all of the goals look.

I watched a little bit of the England game and at one point Raheem Sterling was 1 v 1 with the keeper but didn’t put it away – it is not always easy.

Given that he is a wide player, what he is doing just now and how influentia­l he is whenever he is on the park. He has been pretty sensationa­l of late and what really strikes you is just how fit Rodgers has got the team both collective­ly and individual­ly.

They look strong and I when you watch guys like Forrest, Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney it is really noticeable.

It’ll be needed as Celtic enter into a pretty hectic period between now and the game at Ibrox at the end of December. It is an 11-game run but it is not just a run of games, but a run of games that can be definitive in how the season shapes up.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom