BRENDAN Rodgers could sign one more striker even after Patrick Roberts re-joins Celtic over the next few days on a season-long loan.
Herald Sport understand the Parkhead club are happy to allow their manager to spend more money before the end of the transfer window and,if a frontman was to become available, Rodgers has funds to further strengthen his squad.
Another defender is also a possibility given the injuries to Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatenchko but both are expected to be back by early September so in theory at least one will be available for the first group match of the Champions League.
Leigh Griffiths is the only fit senior striker at the club with Moussa Dembele sidelined and while Roberts did well when he played through the middle last season, Rodgers would not think twice about adding a natural frontman if the right player came up.
Celtic flew out to Kazakhstan yesterday afternoon two days ahead of the return against Astana on what should be a rare nerve-free night in a play-off because they go there with a commanding 5-0 lead which even their opponents admit cannot be over turned.
However, Rodgers will take nothing for chance and won’t ask his players to simply see out the tie, which would go against their natural game.
“We will go over there to win,” said the Celtic manager. “That is our plan for every game. It will be no different going to Astana. We will be in a different state now compared to a year ago when we were there, as we were at home.
“We expect a tough game again but we plan to win every one we play. I think you saw that at Kilmarnock on Saturday, there is confidence in the players and how they understand the game, so on Tuesday we will be looking for an equally good result
“There is a huge amount of pressure on them. They will know that if they open up and press the game, we have the speed and mentality to score goals. We will have a clear mind. We know what qualification brings and the team have been really impressive up to this point. Now we have one more stage to go and let’s finish the job.”
Every Celtic player has carefully stuck to the script in that the tie isn’t over, which is sensible, but Rodgers insisted he wouldn’t feel the need to remind them that there was still a bit of work to do.
“It’s not really hard to keep their feet on the ground,” he said.
“Complacency is something we tend to avoid. We want to get through, there is this final game to go and we want to achieve that. The fundamentals in the team will be the same.
“That’s why we don’t concede a lot of goals. In all our competitive games for far we’ve conceded once, and that was right at the end of the Hearts match.
“So the team tactically is set up to press, be aggressive, not to be beaten easily, either in one-versus-one duels or collectively, and attacking-wise we know we have the game to score plenty of goals.
“So it’s one where lots of people will be thinking about all the conundrums but, for me, I only think about winning.”
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