THE return of Dedryck Boyata to the Celtic side seems to have been a regular topic of discussion throughout his career in Glasgow, with a succession of injuries hampering the Belgian defender’s contribution to the cause.

But when he is fit and firing on all cylinders, there is little doubting the value of his presence at the heart of the Celtic defence.

Celtic conceded just 10 goals in his 22 appearances last term, which included 13 clean sheets. A player’s contribution to a team, and indeed his ability, is often exaggerated when they spend a period of time out of the side, but the absence of Boyata was keenly felt throughout Celtic’s sometimes fraught but ultimately successful quest to reach the Champions League group stage for a second successive year.

His return to the Celtic side with a start against Dundee in Wednesday night’s cruise into the semi-finals of the Betfred Cup could hardly have come at a more opportune time, with the massive match against his countrymen, Anderlecht, to come this week.

His manager, Brendan Rodgers, however, believes that helping Celtic to stay in Europe beyond Christmas should not be the limit of Boyata’s ambitions, and has backed the 26-year-old to force his way into Belgium manager Roberto Martinez’s plans for next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

“They have a real golden age of players right now,” said Rodgers. “A few weeks back I was talking at length to Roberto Martinez on it. I was down at Swansea doing a testimonial game. Dedryck is very much in his plans, Roberto really likes him and that was one of the topics of our conversation.

“Dedryck’s history coming through with Belgium is very good. He obviously made a move to Manchester City and didn’t play so much there, so that has hindered him. But he has come out of that now, and if he can keep a level of fitness and availability, then there’s no doubt for me that he will be in the World Cup squad. There’s no question.

“You always need a real good young one. When you look at the squad, they have Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany and Toby Alderweireld.

“You need a player in there that can play the system, which is 3-4-3 a lot of the time, and he’s used to that. Roberto knows how I work in terms of the game model, so there’s a hand-to-glove fit, certainly offensively, with how he likes to work.

“He’s got all the qualities for that level. With Dedryck it is about playing the games, getting fit, playing consistently, and if he does that, I know that he will be in Roberto’s thoughts.”

If Boyata does ultimately fail in his quest to make the plane to Russia, then it won’t be for a lack of endeavour. He famously put himself through gruelling workouts at Lennoxtown in the dead of night as he tried to work his way into his manager’s favour last year, and Rodgers says such professionalism is typical of the man.

“I wasn’t initially aware of it, and not much gets past me up here,” he said. “When I did find out it was nice, it’s good for a manager when you hear that. It shows his dedication to his profession that he wants to do that. When you have players who lead their life that way, that gives you half a chance.

“I’ve been really impressed with him, firstly as a guy. He’s not wasting his time doing daft things, he’s very concentrated.

“He lives 15 minutes from here so he could be close to the training ground. He gets in, does his work and he is super professional. He looks after every element, and obviously of course, when he was having a tough time and was out injured, he kept going and he kept fighting, and that is obviously a good sign for you in a player.

“When he was ready and came in, he took his chance and he’s been absolutely brilliant for me.”

In the context of their Champions League group, Celtic’s visit to Brussels on Wednesday night is critical in relation to their hopes of extending their European adventure into the new year.

Rodgers concedes that the ties against the Belgian champions are almost like a two-legged play-off for third position in the group, such is the superiority of Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich, and because of that, a draw in the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium may not be the worst result.

“It creates a simplicity to it,” he said. “We understand that these games will be important. There’s obviously other games to play in the group but, certainly, having this game and recognising what we’d like to do after Christmas then this game and the return leg will be important for us.

“[A draw is] a positive result. You can't control the other games but if you go away from home and get a positive result, it's good. You always want to win but if you get a draw and no-one’s gained on you? You’ll take that.”

To make any sort of headway in this Champions League group, Rodgers says the biggest thing his Celtic players have to rediscover is their own faith in themselves. They recovered from the 7-0 thumping at the hands of Barcelona last season in their opening group game to draw with Manchester City in their next match, and he feels that they will have to show similar resolve to bounce back from the 5-0 reverse at home to the French giants two weeks ago.

“I think this level for us is about belief,” he said. “The Champions League is about belief and that's going to be an ongoing change.

“We got better as we went on last year, and it’s a continuation. That’s a factor for a club like Manchester City, even, when they're trying to establish themselves as a potential winner of the competition, but for a club like ourselves, it's an even greater challenge. But it's one we embrace, so that over time we believe we’re not just there, but there to compete."