BRENDAN Rodgers last night demanded further improvement from his players - as Uefa charged the Parkhead side in connection with crowd trouble during the 1-1 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The match brought the curtain down on an impressive continental campaign from the Parkhead side, even if it only harvested three points and ended before Christmas. For all the plaudits heading in their direction, Rodgers feels the club is still a "long way off" where he wants it to be.
This latest charge - the tenth time in the past five years that European football's governing body have been charged for their fans' behaviour - will be examined by Uefa's disciplinary body on February 23, with the visiting supporters alleged to have set off fireworks and caused other crowd disturbances.
It is the club's second charge of the season in continental play, after they were fined £8,500 in response to supporters displaying Palestinian flags during their qualifying tie against Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva in August.
"We’re still a long way off where I want to be," said the Northern Irishman. "We’re a long way off the penny-dropping moment. But what I am seeing is that it’s starting to flow better. We build and consolidate the game. We’re incisive with our movement and passing in the game and finishing. It’s building well but that’s all it is. It’s still a way to go from where I want us to be.”
The former Liverpool head coach refused to put a number on the number of players he requires to make the next step - indeed he feels the head count in the Parkhead first-team squad is still too high.
But majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has promised to sanction further first team arrivals next month as the club aims to maintain this momentum to take it into the next summer's qualifying campaign.
Celtic ended up with three draws from their six matches but some better finishing here and there and they could quite easily have taken seven points. "One year down the line we want to be better prepared in every facet of our approach to qualifying," said Rodgers.
"I don’t think it will make it less stressful or less pressurised but certainly we will enter into it knowing that from day one at pre-season that I will have a fitter bunch of players and then we can roll out other aspects."
After the highs of the Etihad, Celtic return to domestic duty with a fairly mundane outing against Partick Thistle tomorrow night. Rodgers insists he will have no problem maintaining his side's levels, even though - unbeaten domestically and with the league already appearing all but over as a contest - nothing else this season may replicate the Champions League atmosphere.
“There’s no problem - there’s absolutely no worry with that," said Rodgers. "That’s the motivation, what you get paid for. I’ll need to manage it, the players need to keep striving to be the best they can be. We can’t afford to come off it. It’s my job to ensure that. The minute the players do there will be someone super hungry to come in.”
On the injury front, James Forrest went in for a scan on his damaged hamstring yesterday, Scott Sinclair should be fit to return for the meeting with Dundee, while Kieran Tierney, recuperating from ankle ligament problems and a shoulder operation, won't play again until after the club's winter break to Dubai.
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