Thursday, November 29

Scottish Premiership

Celtic

Rodgers keen to avoid major changes to his side during hectic winter schedule

By Gavin McCafferty, | 5d
The Celtic manager felt multiple changes cost his side earlier in the season.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers plans only "subtle changes" to his starting line-up during a hectic schedule before the winter break.

The Hoops' Ladbrokes Premiership game at Hamilton on Saturday is the first of 11 matches before the end of the year and Rodgers will be without Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic, while Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths, Olivier Ntcham, Kieran Tierney and Tom Rogic have all been nursing injuries in recent weeks.

Rodgers knows he will have to rotate his squad but he has learned lessons from defeats at Hearts and Kilmarnock earlier this season, when he made five and six changes respectively following European games.

When asked about making changes, he said: "I have to, but obviously without making too many. Because I think we have already seen when we make too many changes we lose the flow of the team. That's where our two defeats came early on in the season, making big changes to try and compensate for big games following.

"But the players are now up to speed in terms of fitness and rhythm. We'll have to look at subtle changes within it, but I don't think there will be too many.

"I think what's important is that collectively it's been an incredible performance from these players over two and a half years on the pitch, and they know that collectively they all have to be ready. That's something we will continue to work hard to ensure all the players are ready if they are asked to play."

Tierney might not be risked after being taken off during Scotland duty with a tight hamstring but the left-back is desperate to play.

"For me, it's train every game and hopefully get picked, because I want to play every game, the same as the two I missed there," Tierney said. "I was gutted I was pulled out."

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last updated article - 2018-11-23 17:55:05:
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1Manchester CityMan City1311204053535
2Liverpool1310302652133
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs13100323111230
4Chelsea1384128111728
5Arsenal1383228161227
6Everton136432015522
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd136342021-121
8Bournemouth136252218420
9Watford136251717020
10Leicester CityLeicester135351817118
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves134451215-316
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton134361419-515
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle133371116-512
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham133371422-812
15Huddersfield TownHuddersfield13247822-1410
16Crystal Palace13238817-99
17Burnley132381327-149
18Southampton131571024-148
19Cardiff CityCardiff132291126-158
20Fulham132291433-198
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