Brendan Rodgers has made four changes to the Celtic side that beat Motherwell on Saturday for tonight’s Champions League lash with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Mikael Lustig, Kolo Toure, Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic come back into the side in an XI that is widely regarded as the first choice of Brendan Rodgers.
The only real decision that the Celtic boss had to make was who to play alongside Toure with Erik Sviatchenko getting the nod ahead of Jozo Simunovic who is on the bench.
Looking at the progress his side has made Rodgers said: “Up until now, the players couldn’t have done any more. From June 25 in training they have given their all and raised the bar and the standards every day – how they are looking after themselves, preparing themselves – and then how they are bringing that into the games. Myself and the staff are delighted with the response and we just have to keep moving forward.”
“Here at Celtic, as the manager, there’s an obligation. I feel a personal responsibility to put out a team that plays with power, speed, creativity and unpredictability. That’s what we’re heading towards. We’ve got players doing fantastic in this early part of the season but we are looking to develop that.
Thinking of tonight’s match Rodgers added: “We always felt if we could be in Europe after Christmas that’d be fantastic. The players, in a very short period of time, have made a lot of great strides.
“This competition was always going to help us on the journey in terms of developing players and it will take time, but you saw the performance against Man City was at a real high level and we showed we can compete at this level.
“But what you’ve then got to do is back that up and, as I say, tonight will be another brilliant game and we have to set the tone for the supporters, who are amazing, and then hopefully look to get the three points which would be a good return for us.”
CELTIC: Gordon; Lustig, Toure, Sviatchenko, Tierney; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Rogic, Sinclair; Dembele
SUBS:De Vries, Izaguirre, Simunovic, McGregor, Armstrong, Roberts, Griffiths