BRENDAN RODGERS last night insisted he had no choice but to field a weakened team against St Johnstone with the second leg of Celtic's Europa League tie with Zenit St Petersburg just days away.

Celtic, who drew 0-0 with the Perth men in Glasgow, will defend their 1-0 lead on Thursday in Russia. A win would take the club to the last 16 of that competition for the first time since 2004.

Rodgers made seven changes and while victory yesterday would have stretched the lead at the top to eleven points, there was no regret from the Irishman despite his team’s poor performance.

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Asked if he should have picked a stronger team. Rodgers said: “No – you have to be careful with so many big games and a big game on Thursday.

"Kieran Tierney has played nearly two seasons in one and I have to take the opportunities to give him a breather. After Thursday he has Aberdeen on Sunday and games to follow from there.

“Scott Brown is suspended, Mikael Lustig has a niggle on his Achilles and we couldn’t risk that and Oliver Ntcham was ill and couldn’t play. Scott Sinclair came in and is top class so it was still a strong team. It was young, but strong and we just couldn’t get the win.

“Olivier should be fine for Thursday. Browny is available and Mika was precautionary but should be fine. There was no need to risk it when I have other players I can give a chance to.”

Rodgers then seemed to question the St Johnstone players’ mentality after the under-pressure Perth side came away from Celtic Park with their second draw of the season.

The Northern Irishman was full of praise for his countryman Tommy Wright whose team have taken two points from the champions, won at Easter Road, but have not won a game since a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Rangers at Ibrox in December.

And the Celtic manager made it clear he felt St Johnstone were a team which did better in the bigger matches but fell short in the other matches, which is why they are struggling to finish in a top six position.

Asked why St Johnstone enjoyed a decent record against his side, Rodgers said: “There’s a question there for Tommy’s players. He’s fantastic manager and I am sure he walks away happy with a point.

Read more: Tam McManus: Result in Russia would be fillip for Celtic, Scotland and youths

“But he’s probably really frustrated. How can you win a game at Ibrox 3-1 on December 16 and then not win again right through apart from the Albion Rovers up game?

“The next big result is away at Celtic. So, the question is with the St Johnstone players.

“They were committed, fighting, running. If they do that in every single match then they would win a lot more games. But that’s the expectancy when you are a Celtic player - everyone will come and fight to make it difficult for you."

Wright himself was pleased with his side who deserved a point after what was a rather forgettable game.

The St Johnstone manager said: “We have had performances like this, we had one at the start of the season and not many teams are unbeaten after coming here twice.

“We have had it against Rangers and Hibs but it hasn’t been often enough. But this performance should give the players confidence to kick on for the rest of the season.

“They will deserve all the plaudits this season because I thought they were excellent.

“It was a well-deserved draw. “I would have liked to have taken more and with a bit more composure we might have.”