Rodgers on winger shortage, Kyogo & seeking attacking additions

charlotte cohen - bbc sport scotland

Fri, 10 Jan 2025, 10:43 am·2-min read

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been speaking to the media as his side prepare to travel to face Ross County.

Here are the main points:

Celtic are set to be without four wingers for the trip to Dingwall. Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda will miss the game but Rodgers insists they're "not longer term" injuries and should be fine for the trip to Dundee on Tuesday.
Luis Palma had a bereavement overnight so he won't travel and James Forrest is still out but apart from that everyone is available.
The Northern Irishman says his side "have to get on with" the busy fixture schedule and insists they'll be doing everything they can "to produce the best performances and results".
On Odin Holm's potential loan move to Los Angelese FC, Rodgers is hopeful it will be "confirmed soon" and suggests there may be "one or two others" leaving over the course of the window.
On the MLS mistakenly claiming Kyogo Furuhashi had joined Atlanta United, Rodgers says "I can guarantee Kyogo is on the coach and he's travelling to Ross County, he's certainly not in the MLS."
On the January window as a whole, the manager insists the club worked hard leading up to it and is "hopeful we can get players in we would like", adding he's keen to "bring in more attacking threat and goals".
Rodgers says the 15-point lead over Rangers in the Premiership is a result of Celtic's consistency which "can be a big advantage" in a competition.
The Celtic boss adds that the performance in the 3-0 defeat at Ibrox was "nowhere near" what he was looking for and "doesn't expect them to be anywhere near that level again".
On the challenge of Ross County, Rodgers says they will be "hard to beat" and the match "will be about resilience, mentality and getting through the tough moments in the game".