PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD
Rogic set for striker’s role as Dembele joins Griffiths on sidelines
BRENDAN Rodgers is prepared to press midfielder Tom Rogic into attack after Moussa Dembele lost his fitness battle ahead of tonight’s Champions League tie with Rosenborg.
And young defender Kristoffer Ajer is also on standby for a Champions League debut after central defender Erik Sviatchenko joined the casualty list.
With Dedryck Boyata injured, Jozo Simunovic would be the only recognised central defender in the squad.
Coveted France Under-21 striker Dembele missed yesterday’s training session with a thigh injury, leaving Rodgers with no recognised striker following Leigh Griffiths’ one-match suspension picked up after an incident against Linfield in Belfast a fortnight ago.
In attack, at least, Rodgers can revisit a contingency plan first utilised in a 5-0 win over Partick Thistle in May.
‘Dembele is a doubt,’ reported the Celtic manager. ‘We have to find out the state of where he’s at but we could be going into the game without our two main strikers.
‘It happens, so we have to find a way and we have done that a number of times last year.
‘Tactically, we look at the team, how can you find a way to play, and then quickly pull together a plan that can get you a result.’
The loss of Griffiths was both avoidable and regrettable. Charged with responding to crowd disorder in Linfield by tying a Celtic scarf around a Windsor Park post, the Scotland striker was urged to learn his lesson by his manager.
The lessons don’t come much harder than watching from the stand as a midfielder fills the berth Griffiths would be occupying but for a moment of needless impetuosity.
With Sviatchenko also a doubt, and Boyata injured, Celtic risk being caught short for one of the most important games in their season.
Most of all in attack where Rosenborg are expected to focus on limiting Celtic opportunities before Wednesday’s return in Trondheim.
Rodgers admitted he may have risked Dembele, although that now looks unlikely, saying: ‘I think it’s one where it’s about rationale and looking at where he’s at. If it’s a big risk — and that might be taken out of my hands because if he’s out, he’s out — I have to prepare for that as well over the next 24 hours.
‘These are big games for us but if it’s too much of a risk then no, I wouldn’t do it.
‘I had it last year. We had things with the likes of Stuart Armstrong, guys that if they are feeling something there then you have to listen to them.’
Dembele, of course, is at the centre of fevered speculation over his future. Rodgers denies reports Celtic held discussions with Marseille over a £20million move while the French club were in Glasgow for a pre-season friendly with Rangers.
An injury tonight is not directly related to the possibility of a move when Celtic’s Champions League fate is known. But it could have an impact on Dembele’s willingness — or otherwise — to play through the pain.
Rodgers has improvised before. The loss of Patrick Roberts — who did the job last season — is a pain. But, largely unnoticed, Rogic also played as a ‘false nine’ the night Griffiths took public exception to being substituted against Partick Thistle in May.
‘I did a number of things last year,’ said Rodgers. ‘I played Scotty (Sinclair) up front, it didn’t work, so I had to change it.
‘I played Pat up there, who was brilliant.
‘Some of you may or may not have noticed that in the Partick game for the last half hour, I played Tom Rogic up there. That was a false nine. So we’ll see…
‘We didn’t have a striker at Hearts either and scored five.
‘That is what you need — multiple goalscorers.
‘We’ve got Rogic who scores, Sinclair who scores, James Forrest chips in, Armstrong who can score. ‘We have enough goalscorers. Just because it’s not a traditional goalscorer doesn’t mean you can’t score. You just have to find a different way if that is the case.’ Tonight’s plight will renew calls among supporters for Celtic to sign another striker. It’s unusual — and risky — for a club of such a size to function with just two but Rodgers has his reasons for doing so, arguing: ‘If you have two highly strung strikers fighting for a position and you add a third one to the mix, it can actually work against you.
‘Some will say you can’t have too many good players but I think you can. It can give you a problem you don’t need.
‘It’s just unfortunate if two get injured, so we’ll see. We’ll make do and take it from there.’
Rosenborg rely heavily on the erratic and unpredictable physical prowess of former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner as the focal point of a three-man attack.
Forever damned as the player who blew his chance to become the new Zlatan, the Dane has attracted more headlines for his off-field nonsense than his infrequent goals.
If this really is the last chance saloon for his career as a top-class footballer, at least he’s no stranger to a drink.
‘He is the reference for the team,’ said Rodgers. ‘He is 6ft 4in, he has good feet and if he wakes up tomorrow and God turns him on then he can maybe play well.’
The anticipated loss of Dembele, and the absence of Sviatchenko in addition to Griffiths, increases the element of doubt to a contest Celtic were expected to win.
Publicly, at least, Rosenborg management and players have talked up their status as underdogs to progress to the play-off qualification round.
‘We are Celtic,’ shrugged Rodgers. ‘We will always have pressure. We plan to win over two legs and we accept pressure. That means you are the big club.
‘If you need to say you are the underdogs to relieve some pressure, that’s okay.’