Brendan Rodgers: Leigh Griffiths is a great boy and we all love him

Brendan Rodgers praised Leigh Griffiths for seizing his opportunity after the striker earned Celtic a winning start to their Europa League group stage campaign.

Celtic's Leigh Griffiths celebrates scoring against Rosenborg. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Griffiths, who had been in court earlier in the day where he was found guilty of a speeding charge, struck the winner against Rosenborg in the 87th minute.

That ensured Celtic did not fall off the early pace in Group B where top seeds Red Bull Salzburg scored in stoppage time to win 3-2 against RB Leipzig in Germany. Next up for Celtic in the group is a trip to Austria to face Salzburg on 4 October.

Celtic manager Rodgers insists he is content to keep trying to get the best out of Griffiths, regardless of his off the field issues.

“It’s part and parcel of what Leigh is,” said Rodgers. “He’s a great boy and we all love him. I love working with him. He is vital to this squad, whether he is on the bench or starting. He loves this club.

“What we know with Leigh is he can score goals. You fancy him to take a chance and it was the only one he had. He anticipated the ball in the box and it was a great finish.

“I’m delighted with him and all the players. It was a great win in relation to our spirit in the game, our persistence to keep going right to the end.

“Rosenborg surprised us a little bit. Once we found the balance in our game, we started to create chances.“Without being at the top of our game, we kept going. You have to find a way to win and the players did that. That’s five clean sheets in a row and Rosenborg didn’t have a shot on target.”