New year is awash with people making firm resolutions. Brendan Rodgers has already made a few when it comes to culling his Celtic squad but it won’t make things any easier when it’s time to inform those he has decided to cut loose.

Compounding the awkwardness of this assignment is a quick glance at the league table. Whatever struggles there have been this season – and it wasn’t very long ago that there were calls for Rodgers himself to get out – the team is sitting pretty at the top of the Premiership. A successful festive programme has delivered 12 points out of 12, including three priceless ones at the expense of Rangers.

It's been a pleasing end to the first half of the season. The players have turned things round. They have, to an extent, dug Rodgers out of a hole. And while some have made more of a contribution than others, the manager has grown very fond of the squad, the majority of whom have arrived since his first spell at the club ended five years ago next month.

Brendan Rodgers is happy with Celtic's progress at the winter pause of the season.

“I love working with this group because they are such an honest group of players,” he said. “There is not an idiot amongst them. They know that they weren’t quite at the level, especially against Hearts, but I looked at that and it was a bit more about fatigue on the back end of a Champions League game and because a lot of players were having to play continuously. But you have to perform, and that is what it takes to be a Celtic player. You need that mentality to win, and to win in a way that will make the supporters happy.”

These fans are certainly content for the time being. Rodgers and his players were hailed on Tuesday following the 3-0 victory over St Mirren, his side’s fourth win on the trot. “We shall not be moved!” chorused the supporters. Celtic look to be really getting into their stride. Rodgers has reflected on the two-week period that saw his side not only get back on track, but also post some statement performances. The 2-0 win over Livingston was routine to an extent but was plied with extra significance because it stemmed a run of two consecutive league defeats. Remarkable though it might seem now, Rodgers was operating under heavy pressure. He was within his rights to look satisfied with the way things have turned out since as he sat in the tight, windowless media room at the SMiSA stadium in Paisley on Tuesday. He trotted through four potentially season-defining games one by one.

“Against Livingston, (we) suffocated the game really well,” he said. “Dundee, our best performance against a back five. Rangers? A big game, and a big game mentality. Then coming here, everyone would probably have looked at St Mirren as a tricky game, but actually the quality of our football and the hunger in the team was there … it’s heading more towards where I want it to be.”

The only complaint might be the enforced lay-off due to the winter break although Rodgers has already stated he’s fine with the interruption, since it gives him the chance to shake off a flu bug that’s been dogging him recently. It’s also an opportunity to reset before going again. Hearteningly, Liel Abada and Reo Hatate are back after long spells out with injury, although the latter is heading off again with Japan to the Asia Cup. Defender Maik Nawrocki has re-emerged. Benfica loan-signing Paulo Bernardo, meanwhile, has demonstrated he has the ability to be a game changer.

As Rodgers noted after the St Mirren win, as well as the sumptuous feints and flicks the 21-year-old possesses a physicality required to thrive in the Scottish game. There are certain to be one or two additions in the transfer window. Rodgers has stressed he is confident there will be some announcements on that front sooner rather than later. Of course, that means that some room must be created. Fringe players may be invited to look elsewhere for their own good as much as Celtic’s. Such a task comes with the territory as manager. As much as he has enjoyed working with the players, Rodgers won’t shirk from his responsibilities. He has been mulling over the question of moving players on for several weeks.

“You have to for multiple reasons,” he said. “For the players themselves and for their football careers, they need to play. For financial reasons, you can’t be carrying numbers of players each month who aren’t contributing. It then allows us the opportunity to bring players in. That’s just a natural process.

“It’s the hardship of the job,” he added. “It’s one of the tough moments that you have - but I always think you’re better being clear with the players and where he stands. It’s a challenge because you know that sometimes a player will leave here and he won’t have similar conditions again at his next club. But you have to do it for the greater good of the team, the club and for the player himself. It’s a side of the job that is a challenge, especially when players are so honest and they are on the way up. But the reality is, as a manager, that’s what you get paid to do.

“I have regular dialogue with players but still we obviously have to wait and see as well because some players may want to go out but, if we don’t get the players in that we need, then I have to ensure the squad is as strong as it possibly can be for the second part of the season. So there’s that management side to it as well.”

Brendan Rodgers holds court, explains Celtic squad cull and he 'loves working with this group'