Brendan Rodgers masterminded a 1-0 victory for Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday afternoon. Kyogo Furuhashi was the difference maker for the Bhoys in a crucial derby win.
In the match, the Irish gaffer was forced into a fair few changes, however. Firstly, Canadian full-back Alistair Johnston had to be withdrawn on 65 minutes. Rodgers said on Sky Sports that the 24-year-old is ‘just coming back’ and that he was ‘just tired a little bit’ and is still ‘building his fitness’.
It is beneficial for Johnston and the Hoops that the international break is upcoming. It gives time to certain players to recover ahead of a clash at home to Dundee in a few weeks.
In today’s game, however, Johnston wasn’t the only full-back to have been withdrawn. Greg Taylor was subbed off in the latter stages. On the Scottish defender, Rodgers said: “Greg just felt a bit of tightness so we just brought him off and put on Alexandro.”
To have no extra injury worries following today’s match is positive for the Hoops. In the coming two weeks, there are no games which means players such as Carter-Vickers, Nawrocki, Hatate, and Welsh have lots of time to recover, come back, and strengthen the team.
