Celtic reveal why they can be cautious with duo as Arne Engels criticism addressed
Carter-Vickers back in training - but Trusty gives Rodgers a boost
Celtic will continue to be cautious with the return of key defender Cameron Carter-Vickers despite the American’s return to training.
Both he and fellow Celtic defender Greg Taylor are pushing to return from toe and calf injuries respectively ahead of Sunday’s Premiership encounter with Motherwell at Fir Park. However, the performances of deputies Auston Trusty and Alex Valle in Tuesday’s 0-0 Champions League draw with Atalanta allows manager Brendan Rodgers to take his time with their reintegration.
Rodgers said: “We’ve got Cam back training with the squad, which is good news. Greg Taylor as well. So, one more day to go and then we’ll see how they are, but hopefully they’ll be involved in the game.
“We’d like them to be available, I think that’s what’s important. So, it gives us options, which is what you want as a coach. But obviously the team, defensively, was outstanding the other night. But to have those two guys back, who are very important players for us, will be good.”
Carter-Vickers trained before the last two games, but did not make the squad. He has missed the last six matches in total and Rodgers continued: “Certainly when we were away it was the best he’d felt. So he’s obviously done some training back here.
“We’re just being careful and listening to him really to not want to force it really if it’s not right. But he looked very good earlier and he’s been that throughout this week. So fingers crossed he comes through OK and then he can be involved in the squad.”
Left-footed Trusty has been filling in on the right side of central defence alongside Liam Scales and the former Sheffield United player showed his worth in Italy with his best performance since arriving at Celtic Park.
“I thought he was immense in the game,” Rodgers continued. “Him and Scalesy. But Scalesy, I’ve seen now for a long time, one of his great superpowers is defending the box. When it comes in, he puts his head on it.
“For Auston, a big admiration, especially since he’s come in he’s a player that’s been playing on the wrong side virtually all his time. But he’s just got on with it and coped with it.
“But then you see one of the big reasons why we did bring him in. His ability to leap and defend in the box. He’s really powerful with his head. But also his speed, there were a couple of recovery runs in behind. He’s super quick. He got there on a couple of occasions.
“I was so, so pleased for him, because sometimes you need a big performance like that at the big clubs to really show your value.”
Rodgers believes Celtic can now push forward on multiple fronts after showing they can play with grit as well as guile following their performance against exalted opposition in Bergamo.
Celtic looked far more compact in Italy than they had in Germany three weeks earlier, when they were dismantled 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund, and defended stoutly against an Atalanta team who like to get the ball in the box from out wide.
“The biggest part that really pleased me was that concentration level right to the very end against a team from a superior league and a top, top team,” said Rodgers. “We showed that we could defend really well and be compact and tight, but we showed a great physicality in the game as well to match their physicality.
“The players can take huge confidence, knowing that we can play some brilliant football, some fast football, score many goals. But to keep a clean sheet and play how we did out there, not only does it galvanise the players and their confidence when those moments come – because they’ll come again, especially in the Champions League – it’s also great for the supporters.
“The supporters, as much as the football is great and intensity and everything, they also need to know that your team can have a bit of dig, a bit of grit and determination. I think we’ve seen that the other night against a top team.
“I was so happy for the supporters because I’m sure after the Dortmund game there’s a wee bit of trepidation. You’re playing against a top team who, across Europe, were one of the top goalscorers in all the top leagues.
“But they got a real pride in their team. Not just for us as coaching and managing staff, the players themselves but for the supporters, they know that this team can now do that. There is a graft there, there is a heart, there is a desire and an organisation that can help us.”
One of the players who showed a different side to his game was midfielder Arne Engels, who tested the home goalkeeper with a powerful drive but generally suppressed his attacking instincts.
“He had a massive job to do on Ademola Lookman,” Rodgers explained. “His strength is his running power. He’s a different player to what Matt O’Riley was but it was for that very reason we brought him in with that power and that running ability that he has to cover the ground, do the dirty stuff.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the team and he’s shown that since the first day he arrived.”
The £11million record signing has received criticism from some supporters since the Dortmund game, having started brightly following his move from Augsburg. “That doesn’t surprise me, but it doesn’t really matter,” Rodgers said. “There’s critics in the game and people have an opinion and you have to respect that.
“Sometimes there’s a price around him and that might feel that you’re buying someone who’s the finished article. He’s not. He came in here as a 20-year-old player who’s got great potential and it’s my job along with the staff to develop that.
“I said to him, you’re coming from playing one game a week – where that’s a holiday in my book – to play in a big club with big pressure and big expectation, and you’ll feel it. You’ll be playing a lot of games and sometimes you come out to recover so it’s all natural.
“I understand that people will make a judgement but I’m so happy he chose to come here. He’s shown more than enough in this short period of time that he’s going to be a fantastic player for us.”
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