BRENDAN Rodgers, the Celtic manager, will trust his Treble winning side to get the club back into the Uefa Champions League.
Rodgers has made just one addition with Aberdeen’s Jonny Hayes brought in for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.3 million. Supporters are itching for further new faces as Celtic ready themselves for the anxiety of the Uefa Champions League qualifiers but the Celtic manager believes his squad are strong enough to get the club back into the elite environment of the group stages of Europe’s premier competition.
Rodgers will look to add one more player to strengthen his hand but he appeared relaxed about the lack of transfer activity as he gave a wide-ranging interview to the club’s television channel, Celtic TV.
The Parkhead manager is assured a level of trust given the success of his inaugural campaign in which Celtic finished the season without a domestic defeat.
“There are two players in particular. Jonny was one and then there is another I would hope we can get in,” said Rodgers. “Then I just want to get through the qualifiers with the players who have got us through, knowing they are a year better on.
“I also want to just wait and see because I know the market in England well and the rest of Europe well. I know how it works. It’s later on in the window before some other players of real quality become available. I want to bring the best possible players into here.
“We don’t need quantity this season, we need quality.”
Hayes has been something of a low-key addition but Rodgers expects the player to leave a significant footprint at the club.
The Republic of Ireland internationalist netted against Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup final last month and Rodgers says his performances throughout the campaign stood out.
“It’s great credit to Jonny and also to Derek McInnes and his staff how well he has developed,” Rodgers said. “I felt that last year, outside of my own players, he was the most dangerous player by a country mile that I’d faced. On a one-to-one he is exceptional and he will get the supporters off their feet.
“I think he’s a player that the supporters will really take to, he’ll give his life, he's a Celtic guy, his family are Celtic and I just think sometimes when you have those about, you maybe get that wee bit extra one or two per cent. I wouldn’t have brought him in if I didn’t think he would add to what he has got.”
Celtic head to Austria tomorrow with three games scheduled as they begin the preparations for their Champions League qualifiers.
They play BW Linz in Austria on Wednesday evening before then taking on Rapid Vienna on Saturday and Slavia Prague a week on Tuesday.
“We need to reclaim our football fitness and our mental fitness, that winning mentality,” said Rodgers.
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