Brendan Rodgers reacts after Celtic draw with Wolves; how Bhoys can improve further

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Brendan Rodgers has given his reaction to Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Wolves in Dublin this afternoon.

A goal from Kyogo Furuhashi in the first half and a late conceded penalty meant the Premier League side escaped with a draw in a match that the Bhoys deserved a win out of.

Rodgers admitted losing that late goal was a disappointment but described the workout as ‘perfect’ in his post-match interview with Viaplay.

The Celtic boss said: “It always feels like a loss when you concede so late on. The workout was perfect for us. I thought we had some spells of fantastic football and it was the perfect type of game that we needed.

“Of course, the game gets a bit broken when you are making so many changes so you lose that fluency and the rhythm of the game so in the last 25 minutes, we probably gave the ball away too much. We have to be better in that aspect but overall I am really pleased. It was a great exercise against and fantastic side.”

Asked how his side can still improve from this point, Rodgers continued: “I think it is just about building on the fitness and aspects of the positioning. The team is obviously playing well but there are certain phases of the play we can improve but I thought in the build-up, we were really good under pressure.

“It is just about the positional elements and on Tuesday we will play two teams as players need to get some minutes into their legs and then that will be our final preparation before the season starts.”

So, still aspects of performance the manager wants to tidy up, but overall there is a positive direction so far this pre-season. Celtic were notably sharper today than they were in Japan.

And that plan on Tuesday night sounds like the perfect way to round off the summer work before diving into a long and potentially dramatic Scottish Premiership season.

The real stuff is just around the corner now and that will be the true test of Brendan Rodgers’ second spell at the club. There’s reason to be confident, but nobody should be getting complacent.

In other news, Chris Sutton pleased with Liel Abada reveal after ‘slightly strange’ Celtic situation.