BRENDAN Rodgers has stressed he has no concerns about Dorus de Vries seeking a move away from Celtic during the January transfer window despite the Dutchman’s lack of game time at Parkhead this season.

De Vries, who worked under Rodgers during his time at Swansea City, was signed back in August and initially started ahead of Craig Gordon, including in matches against Rangers at Parkhead and Barcelona in the Nou Camp.

However, Gordon has since firmly established himself as the first choice keeper at the Scottish champions with an impressive run of form, including an eight game streak domestically without conceding a goal.

However, Rodgers feels that De Vries, the former Dunfermline, Wolves and Nottingham Forest goalie who signed a two year contract, has played an important role in his team mate changing his style of play and is confident he will remain in Glasgow.

“Goalkeepers understand and respect things and Dorus is a good guy,” he said. “He’s an honest fella and understands where he’s at and that he’s a real part of the squad here even though he hasn’t played as much.

“People wonder why I brought in Dorus, but he’s an influence on that as well Craig’s seen how he’s working and he’s able to sit with him and talk about how I worked at Swansea. That’s helped him along with his own intelligence of how to get better.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers has spoken of his personal satisfaction in helping Gordon transform him-self into a “sweeper keeper” and force his way back into the Scotland side during the 2016/17 campaign.

The 34-year-old, who spent two years out of football with a serious knee injury before signing for Celtic in 2014, has once again performed well this season and played for his country in the World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley in November.

“That’s the biggest thing for me (the development of players),” said Rodgers. “I always say to the players, when I have my walking stick in my 70s and I meet you and look in your eye I want you to look at me and think ‘he actually did well for me’.

“I look at Craig Gordon and the developments he has made. I used to watch games and when the ball went back to him, I could sense the crowd (getting nervous). Now he’s calm and it’s not just him, it’s the other players who have to get into position.

“It’s about giving players solutions under pressure and how to cope with it. You have to give him immense credit because at 32 or 33, he could have said: ‘You know what, this isn’t going to work out’.

“We had a real chat about if he was prepared to do it and now look at him. He’s played his first international game for seven years against England and he’s now keeping clean sheets, participates in the game and is a brilliant reference for Scottish goalkeepers.

“Individually, I take a great pride as a coach as we’re to improve players and make them better.”

The former Swansea and Liverpool manager identified Celtic's over reliance on Leigh Griffiths to score goals as a major problem after he had succeeded Ronny Deila back in May.

The striker netted 40 times in all competitions last term, but Tom Rogic, who bagged 10, was the only one of his team mates who managed to get into double figures.

Rodgers believes the success of players like Armstrong, who has scored eight times, up front has been pivotal to the success that the Parkhead club has enjoyed as they push for a sixth consecutive Scottish title.

“We needed to find multiple scorers in the team because you are never going to succeed if you only have one player who is going to score the goals," he said.

“Tom Rogic got 10 goals last season, I said to him he has to look for 20 with his qualities and our style of playing.

“If you are going to be a dangerous team, it has to come from different areas of the field or else the opposition can just close one player out and that’s it.

“It’s defining jobs and, as an attacking player, your job is simple. When you have the ball, it’s to create goals and score goals.

“If you play in the team as a winger and you are scoring two goals, you are no good to me.

“They all know when I come to them for their numbers and they say: I’ve scored 20 and created four, that’s good.

“Stuart Armstrong, Scott Sinclair, Patrick Roberts. You have to be effective. Don’t just look a good player, be a good player and that means being effective.

“As defenders, you stop goals. It’s defining roles and being clear. We’re an attacking team, but we defend well and pressure the ball. It’s good, they are getting there.”

Armstrong is studying for a law degree through Open University, but Rodgers feels it is his football intelligence which is more valuable to him.

"There are lots of footballers I know that are clever," he said. "They might not have academic knowledge, but what they have is practical knowledge and that’s what gets you through in life.

"If you’ve got practical knowledge – you don’t know where you get it from but you get it – that’s the most important knowledge.

"Academia is great but if you don’t know how to implement it it counts for nothing."