Celtic boss lays down gauntlet and issues demand to young stars following late win

Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers laid down the gauntlet to his young stars following his side’s last-gasp 3-2 friendly win over Sligo Rovers last night.

Two late strikes saw Celtic rescue a win over the League of Ireland outfit, with Luis Palma the hat-trick hero thanks to goals in the ninth, 90th and 92nd minutes. Sligo had looked to pull off a surprise victory after strikes from Kailin Barlow (14) and Simon Power (17) put them into a first-half lead.

Rodgers fielded a number of fringe players for the game at the Showgrounds, with Luke McCowan, Alex Valle, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh all getting minutes in their legs, while a number of the clubs young stars were also offered opportunities to impress.

“It was a really good exercise for us,” said Rodgers following the win. “A lot of our senior players got 90 minutes in, which is good. The second-half was much better than the first, better tempo, better rhythm and speed in our game. We were very good in the second-half. It was excellent to come here. A great little test for us in how they played and how they worked. Overall, really pleased.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. | SNS Group

Teenage duo Samuel Isiguzo and Sean McArdle caught the eye of the onlooking Celtic supporters, with the pair grabbing an assist each after being introduced to the game in the 61st minute. The Celtic head coach admitted he was impressed by some of what he saw from his young stars, but spelt out exactly what he needs to see from them if they are to progress to the first team in the months to come.

“Physicality,” explained Rodgers. “A lot of them need to improve on that aspect of the game. They have talent on the ball, but that is nowhere near enough, so that physicality will allow them to play at a higher tempo. But it is nice for them to feel that, get out there and play front of a crowd, play with that personality you need to play for Celtic. Some of them did really, really well.

“We've got some free days. A little bit of rest, but then planning ahead for a really exciting game. Looking forward to that. We will have a couple of days to recover. It has been a long period of games, seven games in 23 days, so a little bit of recovery time then we'll get look forward to getting everyone back in for the Aberdeen game.”