BRENDAN RODGERS last night admitted to being pleasantly surprised by his Celtic squad’s lack of ego, their willingness to improve and determination to become elite footballers.

The buoyant Celtic manager was brimming with both confidence and pride in his charges some 24 hours ahead of their home Champions League match against Borussia Monchengladbach, as he described the last few months as the most enjoyable of his career.

Victory over the Germans would take the Scottish champions to four points leaving their match-day three opponents with nothing. This would make the men from Glasgow heavy favourites to finish at least third in Group C, which would mean them taking part in the Europa League after Christmas.

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The Northern Irishman certainly felt he had the players good enough to beat Moenchengladbach in a match which could in many ways shape the rest of this season for his club.

“I have to say that I am in a really, really enjoyable period of my coaching life in terms of working with these guys,” he said. “You never know (what to expect). You come up here from the Premier League where you were working with world class players, and at Swansea with very good players, and playing in the most competitive league in the world.

“So you come up and know it’s a good club and that there are good players but I have been overwhelmed by how hungry they are to learn and become better.

“Am I surprised? Yes, because in the modern footballer there is a lot of ego. But this group has no ego. This group come in every day, and we have set a standard from the first day in terms of training and what we expect on and off the field, and these guys are looking to deliver it.

“They might not always be at their best but they have given their best every day and I think that tells you where we are at. We have 28 players, a full batch available, and four goalkeepers, and they all respect they will push one another all the time.

“I have never heard a bad word amongst them. The spirit is great, they really galvanise each other and today we had probably the best I have seen in terms of the type of session we were doing. That is great for me because it’s a consequence of coaching and development. It’s about improving players, that is what they are doing, and they will get better as the season goes on.”

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A footballer without an ego is a rare thing these days but any player who felt himself better than the rest would not last long at Celtic these days.

“Maybe some have an ego underneath; however, they have all bought into the idea that we have to be one team and have one brain in that team, and that all has to be for one common cause,” said Rodgers. “I am not here to fight with anyone or have a war with anyone, I am here to help make people better, and ultimately my responsibility is to develop the club.

“For that to happen I need players who are committed to that and committed to giving their best every day in training because unless you can do it for me in training, you can never do it in a game.

“You can never say this is the best group because each group is different but what is so refreshing it to come into group who are now preparing themselves as elite players by looking at their lifestyle and making sure they are ready for the demands which top level football brings.”

Nothing will be decided this evening and there will still be three games in the group to go, two of them away in Germany and Manchester, with Barcelona still to visit Celtic Park. However, a win would put Celtic in a commanding position regarding staying in Europe in the new year.

Rodgers is a realist and while taking three points here would certainly give his team a crack at a top two finish, which would be quite phenomenal achievement, third sport are where his sights remain set for the moment.

“We always felt if we could be in European football after Christmas then that would be fantastic,” he said. “The players have made great strides in a very short time.

Read more: Celtic's Brendan Rodgers on loving life, staying afloat in the goldfish blow and Glasgow's restaurant scene

“In terms of the development of the players, this competition was always going to help us and against Manchester City the performance was of a very high level. We showed we can compete at this level – now we have to back that up.

“There’s a real positivity around the club at the moment and together we have to keep making these strides forward. We have set ourselves standards throughout this season and each time a question has been asked of these players they have answered it."