Brendan Rodgers has denied that Stuart Armstrong was dropped against Linfield because of his contract stand off.
Armstrong, Leigh Griffiths and Erik Sviatchenko dropped onto the bench as Callum McGregor, Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham came into the starting XI.
The former Dundee United man replaced Ntcham after 67 minutes and completed the scoring in stoppage time as Celtic booked a third round place against Rosenborg with a 6-0 aggregate.
Armstrong was given a warm reception by the Celtic support and celebrated his goal in typically enthusiastic fashion.
Asked if Armstrong had been dropped to the bench because of his contract stalemate Rodgers told The Sun: “There was no correlation. There’s no progress on the contract, as far as I know but I love working with Stuart.
“If there was any correlation then Scott Brown wouldn’t play as he’s in the last year of his contract too.
“I’ve got to prepare players for the season and I’m fortunate we have a strong squad.”
Midfield is the area of the park in which Celtic have most strength in depth with Liam Henderson unable to get a place on the bench.
Rodgers has a full week to prepare his side for the visit of Rosenborg with the Norwegian champions seeing off Dundalk 3-2 at home after extra-time.
