Brendan Rodgers looked back in the 1-1 draw against Wolves in Dublin and ahead to the final pre-season match, this time at Celtic Park against Athletic Club from Bilbao and revealed that in the James Forrest Testimonial on Tuesday night he plans to play two different teams in order to get as much game time as possible into the legs of the players ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Premiership opener against Ross County at Celtic Park.
“It always feels like a loss when you concede so late on. The workout was perfect for us. I thought we had some spells of fantastic football and it was the perfect type of game that we needed.
“Of course, the game gets a bit broken when you are making so many changes so you lose that fluency and the rhythm of the game so in the last 25 minutes, we probably gave the ball away too much. We have to be better in that aspect but overall I am really pleased.
“It was a great exercise against and fantastic side,” the Celtic manager stated via his post match interview on Viaplay.
“It is very important for a team of mines to impose the issue of a game as high up the pitch as you can and we have guys who are willing to work and run. It was a great finish from Kyogo Furuhashi, and we had other chances as well, some other fantastic chances, but it was a really good workout.
🍀 Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers reflects on what his side got from today’s match against Wolves
“It was the perfect type of game that we needed.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/eVsapvzW6Q
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) July 29, 2023
“It is about building on the fitness and aspects of the positioning. The team is obviously playing well but there are certain phases of the play we can improve but I thought in the build-up, we were really good under pressure.
“It is just about the positional elements and on Tuesday we will play two teams as players need to get some minutes into their legs and then that will be our final preparation before the season starts.
On around 30,000 Celtic Supporters turning up at short notice to support the team play in Dublin, the Celtic manager was full of praise for their support and for the incredible atmosphere created at the match against Wolves.
“There are very few clubs that can get this amount of fans in, in such a short period of time. A big thank you to everyone who turned up. I know there are people who come over from all different areas of Ireland to be here. It is great that they came and made a great atmosphere.”
Mon Celtic 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/Wd6tIQ0SWz
— Rachel Lynch (@Rachel_Lynchx) July 29, 2023
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