BRENDAN Rodgers has warned his Celtic players he will accept no excuses if they fail to perform against Astana in their Champions League qualifier here in Kazakhstan tonight - despite the makeshift defence he will be forced to field.
Rodgers also stressed he has confidence in Eoghan O’Connell, the 20-year-old Irish centre half who has never been involved in a European fixture before, being able to handle the first leg of the third qualifying round.
The Scottish champions suffered a setback ahead of this difficult away tie in Asia when Erik Sviatchenko, their first choice centre back, was ruled out as a result of the groin strain he suffered in training on Friday.
The loss of Sviatchenko has presented his manager with a selection dilemma - Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic are both unavailable due to injury while Kolo Toure is short of fitness and has not travelled.
Rodgers revealed that Toure, the former Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool player who was signed at the weekend, was set to be registered with UEFA as a wildcard and could feature in the second leg in Glasgow next week.
“I thought it was unfair to ask Kolo to come straight out,” he said. “He has got a good level of fitness, but he needs some more work. He will have a good week’s training this week. It’s highly likely he can be involved, because of the injury situation, next week.”
However, Rodgers has some big calls to make before the game this evening. Efe Ambrose, who was at fault for the only goal of the game in the embarrassing loss to semi-professional rivals Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of the second qualifying round in Gibraltar, has repeatedly been shown to be unreliable.
Meanwhile, Eoghan O’Connell, who scored his first goal for Celtic in their pre-season friendly against Barclays Premier League winners Leicester City on Saturday, has only played in six competitive matches for the Scottish champions.
“Erik picked up a groin strain before the game at the weekend,” said Rodgers. “I’m not sure long he will be out for. He is unavailable for this one.. It’s not what we needed, especially with the other central defenders being out.
“But we have to cope. It was always going to be a difficult time with the qualifiers and the injuries. However, the players who have come in have been great. Young Eoghan has been excellent. He reads the game really well.
“When I see a young player and I feel he has the temperament, then I always look at that. You saw that at the weekend against Leicester. He’s only 20 but he has an in-built brain for football. He understands the game, he wants to defend and he passes it well.
“We also have players like Mikael Lustig, who was outstanding at the weekend. I have been really impressed with him. He’s an experienced player. But the strength of us will always be the team anyway.
“The players have realised over the last few weeks that I always concentrate on the team. Whoever is asked to come in and play will work well. They have to take that chance. We are ready. We have injuries and what not but the players are working hard and have been fantastic. We are looking forward to it.
“I am confident over the two games, like the last round. You want to leave Kazakhstan with the second leg set up for us to go for it at Celtic Park. It will be a totally different game at home – the intensity and the pressure will be huge.”
If Celtic lose to Astana and fail to qualify for the Champions League group stages for the third season running it would, after the exits of Hibs and Hearts to Brondby and Birkirkana respectively in the Europa League qualifying rounds, be the latest blow that Scottish football has suffered this summer.
However, Rodgers is positive his side can prevail and will refuse to use their extensive injury list, the synthetic surface the game is being played on, the temperature and humidity and time zone as excuses for a bad performance and result.
“In modern football, there are lots of reasons to be negative and if you breed that into players it can give everyone an excuse,” he said. “I see Scottish football and I see lots of talented young players. If we can encourage them, rather than discourage them, you’ve got a very talented group of players from what I’ve seen in the short time I’ve been here.
“But you have to be realistic and know that it’s difficult, but you also have to be positive. For us, yes we could have many things to blame, but we always look to ourselves first. As long as you do everything possible that you can then you get no excuse and that’s how I’ve always worked.
“I could give you a page-long list - them being midway through their season, the artificial pitch, the travel and everything else, but we want to qualify and we know these are the types of games we have to get through and me and the players are really looking forward to it. We know there are plenty of excuses, but it’s not for us.”
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