Brendan Rodgers names the surprise Celtic player he thought would take match-winning penalty vs Kilmarnock

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Brendan Rodgers named a surprise candidate for who he thought would take the penalty for Celtic in their dramatic win against Kilmarnock.

Celtic beat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park as Kelechi Iheanacho scored a 96th minute spot-kick to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	5	4	1	0	8	1	7	13
2	Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian	5	4	1	0	12	6	6	13
3	HibernianHibernian	4	1	3	0	8	7	1	6

Daizen Maeda scored the opener in the 57th minute with a lovely glancing header before David Watson’s header nine minutes from time.

John Beaton then gave the Hoops a late penalty, which Mark Clattenburg disagreed with, which was then scored by the debutant.

Iheanacho asked Callum McGregor if he could take the spot-kick, but Rodgers thought it would be someone else stepping up from 12 yards.

• READ MORE: What Brendan Rodgers told the ‘new guys’ in the dressing room after Celtic’s late Kilmarnock win

Brendan Rodgers thought Benjamin Nygren would take penalty

This was the first time Celtic had earned a penalty since crashing out of the Champions League in a shootout against Kairat Almaty.

Nerves were understandably high and it was a bit of a lottery as to who would be tasked with the responsibility.

While the Celtic manager was delighted to see his new recruit off the mark, he admitted that he thought Benjamin Nygren was going to take it.

“I could see Benji probably looking to take the penalty,” the 52-year-old told BBC Scotland.

“But I know the guys on the pitch there. Kelechi Iheanacho was the one who was going to have that confidence to score and it will do him a world of good.

“Once Kelechi gets his fitness up, he’ll really contribute for us.”

Celtic players show perfect mentality over penalty situation

What was refreshing about the penalty kick was to see how many people wanted to take it.

After the previous two shootout disappointments, seeing so many willing to score from 12 yards was the mentality that separates title winners from the crowd.

It could have been any other player in that scenario, but they all proved that they are prepared to fight for the shirt and right the wrongs from earlier this season.