BRENDAN Rodgers, the Celtic manager, last night denied he will be taking a £30 million gamble playing Nir Bitton, the midfielder, out of position at centre half in the Champions League play-off against Astana.
Bitton is poised to start for the Scottish champions against their Kazakhstani rivals in the first leg of the play-off at Parkhead this evening in the absence of both Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko.
The Israeli almost gifted Partick Thistle a last-minute penalty in a Ladbrokes Premier League match at Firhill on Friday night when he brought down opposition striker Miles Storey with a clumsy challenge inside his own area.
Rodgers, whose team will secure a place in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition worth in excess of £30 million if they overcome Astana, has been urged to play a specialist defender ahead of the 25-year-old.
However, the Northern Irishman stressed he has complete faith in Bitton despite his rash tackle on Storey and backed him to perform in what is sure to be an intense atmosphere inside Celtic Park.
“If it was a big gamble I wouldn’t do it,” he said. “I have taken risks all my life and nine times out of 10 they pay off. For me, it is not a risk.
“You are also looking at the game. If you am playing against a team who are totally bombarding you with high balls and direct balls and you are away from home, then maybe you think differently.
“But you also have to think of the level of the game. You want to put young players, but you don’t want to hurt them either because these are pressure games. Experience can get you though.
“Okay, it might not be perfect playing Nir there, but he has got a good idea of what he is doing, he has got the right profile, he will go and attack it, he will head it and he can play football. I don’t see it as a risk.
“I will make risks, but they will always be calculated. I would never just sit down and say let’s play him in there because he is tall. There is a certain dynamic to it and he has done it very well."
Asked about his late mistake against Thistle at Firhill last week, which went unpunished by
the match referee, Rodgers said: “He is up against a striker that uses his body well and it is just a decision at the end of the game.
“He was maybe half expecting Craig (Celtic goalkeeper Gordon) to get it. He doesn’t and he takes it away. It could have been a penalty, but in lots of occasions those moments will go from him.
“You could have a defender in there who doesn’t get back quick enough so there are pluses and minuses. There will always be a risk if you are putting in a midfield player who doesn’t normally play there. You have to think about it and weight it up and for me if he needs to play there, he can play there.”
Rodgers added: “Since I’ve been here all the centre halves have been questioned and all the midfield players have been questioned, but the facts are simple. We’ve played seven competitive games and we’ve conceded one goal and we’ve hardly given away any opportunities.
“We’re not perfect by any means but I think he’s done brilliantly since he’s been in there, in terms of how we work and how we play. He’s gone into a game against Rosenborg away, in a pressure game against a really good side and he’s coped really well with (Nicklas) Bendtner, a player who, on his day is a very good striker.
“He gets a wee bit stick for some reason when he plays in midfield or at the back. But he understands football and a lot of the players over the course of this early part of the season -
James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Bitton – are all guys who’ve been immense for us because they’ve filled in and done jobs out of position.
“I have nothing but great admiration for them and how they play. If you’re a midfield player playing centre half and you make one mistake over a couple of games, I’ll take that.”
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