Brendan excited for the run-in

CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers is excited about the impact increased options and competition will have on his team – provided his players come through their international duties unscathed.

Rodgers was without the injured Callum McGregor, Liam Scales, Reo Hatate, Maik Nawrocki, Luis Palma and the suspended Yang Hyun-jun as Celtic beat St Johnstone 3-1 on Saturday.

All are expected to return soon after the break, possibly for Livvy on March 30.

Cameron Carter-Vickers was also back in action as Celtic comfortably defeated Craig Levein’s side – he had been taken off for a rest before Connor Smith’s consolation goal.

Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi both produced a goal and assist each, the latter having replaced Adam Idah in the starting line-up, and substitute James Forrest netted in the victory.

Furuhashi had two goals disallowed and hit the bar and Alistair Johnston also fell foul of a marginal offside decision after finding the roof of the net.

Rodgers said: “Those options of quality will hopefully be there for us even more after the break.

“You see the difference with Cameron CarterVickers in, everything just gets shored up.

“Having Callum back, Reo, some of the other guys coming back, Scalesy. It will actually help him a little bit having a rest.

“So by the time we get back after this break we are going to be in a really strong position, hopefully.

“I am so excited about seeing how the team functions in this last part of the season.”

St Johnstone manager Levein praised his substitutes after Stevie May’s header led to Smith’s goal.

“After the Dundee game a month ago, I was complaining about the lack of difference after I introduced some substitutes,” he said.

“This time I thought Tony (Gallacher), Max (Kucheriavyi), Connor and Stevie May brought new life to the team.

“We scored a really good goal and looked a bit better in possession.

“Our guys could easily have folded in the second half. They didn’t, they kept going. They displayed guts and effort.”