Brendan Rodgers has praised Auston Trusty’s performance against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park this evening after criticising the US defender’s defending post-match on Tuesday against Dundee.
Rodgers, who was unhappy with his poor showing against Tony Docherty’s side at Dens Park, instead looked to heap praise on the Celtic defender today after what was a huge improvement in just four days.
It was a huge show of faith from Rodgers in Trusty after previously subbing him at half-time in the Premier Sports Cup final in December following an underwhelming first half.
The Irishman has shown a different approach this time, giving the US defender an immediate opportunity to bounce back against a resolute Kilmarnock side in a cup knockout game.
It was an impressive display against Derek McInnes’ side this evening, with some of the support huge fans of Liam Scales and others favouring Trusty.
It is one of the positions in the team that divides the Celtic support, with both, at times this season, putting in man-of-the-match performances and being susceptible to costly mistakes in Celtic games.
This has meant a tough decision for Rodgers over who starts alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers.
With the Irishman revealing how he sees Trusty’s role in the team at the time of writing.
He said: (Clyde 1 Superscoreboard), “I will say, as I talked about Auston Trusty the other night, and then you see his response, I thought it was excellent today. Big, strong, powerful, and that’s what we expect from a Celtic centre-half.
“He’d realised himself. A lot of the time at Celtic, you may not have so much to do, especially at home. You’re there, and I always think that you get your chance to shine away from home, where you’ve got to stand up and be strong, and that’s your bread and butter. Then there’ll be times at home, like today, where you’ve got to stand up and be counted, and I thought he was brilliant at that.
“I spoke to him after the [Dundee] game, I spoke to him the next day. You draw a line under it, he knows exactly where he stands. These are men, these are men. They’re not little boys. You can talk openly and honestly to them, and that’s what every player will tell you. His response was excellent, he was good in training, so he had to train. You could see his focus, and that’s what I expect, because in the big games, the Leipzig, Atalanta, he’s been colossal in those games.”
Going by Rodgers’ words, it looks like Trusty will start alongside Carter-Vickers against Young Boys on Wednesday night, ahead of Scales.
Despite a poor showing against Dundee since the Glasgow Derby defeat on 2nd January, the US defender has been consistently favoured over Scales, and it would be a serious surprise for Rodgers to spring the Irishman into the starting XI when the team sheet is announced ahead of the game against the Swiss champions.
He may not have been perfect in his time at the club, but as his performance against Atalanta away in Bergamo showed in the Champions League, Trusty has dealt well with pressure from European opponents.
It appears, after an adult discussion with Rodgers in recent days over his post-match comments on Tuesday, that the Celtic centre-back will be given time to rediscover his form, with this evening against Kilmarnock being the best example of that.
