Brendan Rodgers has heaped praise on Dane Murray after the young defender capped a memorable day by scoring his first Celtic goal against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup.

The 22-year-old had just signed a new deal earlier in the day and marked the occasion by heading home in the second half of Friday night’s 4-1 victory at Parkhead.

Rodgers, who has been keen to integrate Murray more into the first-team picture, believes the centre-back has all the attributes to make a big impact in the coming years, and can grow into a first team regular in the coming season and a bit.

Speaking after the game, the Celtic boss said to Sky Sports: “Great for him because he’s a great boy, he’s got a lot of potential and I think over the next 12-18 months he’s going to really grow. I think his ceiling is so high, there’s areas of the game that he needs to clearly obviously work on, but he’s 6 foot 4, he’s quick, he can take the ball, he has a comfort with the ball which aligns with top players and he just, again, concentration is something that’s key for defenders. I really, really like him and that’s the reason we’ve tied him down and I think he’s got a great future.”

Murray’s composed display, alongside his crucial goal, was one of the many positives Rodgers could take from the tie. With a demanding run of fixtures ahead, including the Champions League play-off against Kairat Almaty and the first Glasgow derby of the season, the manager’s comments underline that Murray could be in line for more minutes as Celtic navigate a hectic schedule.

Playing on the right side, he’ll share minutes with Carter-Vickers, who Rodgers may wish to wrap in cotton wool for some matches, given his injury history.

The centre-half now looks set to play a bigger role in Rodgers’ squad moving forward, with his manager confident he can handle the step up.