TIME IS RIGHT TO STOP FOR A BREATHER, SAYS RODGERS
BRENDAN RODGERS looked forward to a timely breather for Celtic after yesterday’s 38th game of the season for his team.
The manager admitted his men were needing a rest in a campaign that started in mid-July against Linfield and broke up for the winter shutdown with a home draw against Rangers.
As part of the freshening-up process for the second half of a campaign featuring another Treble bid and a Europa League date with Zenit St Petersburg, Rodgers takes Celtic to Dubai for a warm-weather break.
When asked if his squad was in need of a rest, Rodgers said: ‘Very much so. It is obvious in terms of the number of games we have played and everything that goes into it. Up here, you virtually have back-to-back seasons, so there is no real rest.
‘Similar to this time last year, in terms of the performances in December, we were maybe a bit tired. Even though we got the victories in them, they maybe weren’t spectacular.
‘Credit to the players, though, because I’ve seen it many times over the years where you can maybe lose that one 1-0.
‘You don’t take your chances then your opponent gets a goal. All of a sudden, you’re on a disappointment.
‘But the resilience of the players and the resolve they showed, they’ve done really well. If you can’t score, then you must make sure you don’t lose.
‘First half, we were the better team without too many moments of quality. Second, we huffed and puffed a wee bit.
‘In the first 20 minutes, they came out and had some opportunities but I thought, towards the end, our physicality could come into it and get us a goal. But it didn’t happen.
‘You are playing your 38th competitive game, your ninth in the month. That is a real taxing period for the players mentally and physically and we showed a different side to get a fair result in the end. Okay, we weren’t quite as bright.
‘I thought the game lacked quality. It was a bit frantic, which these types of games are. Lots of effort and commitment — these things are an obligation. But we lacked that bit of quality, especially in the final third.’