Neil Lennon says Celtic star played his best game under Brendan Rodgers after Atalanta draw

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Not many gave the Celtic players or manager Brendan Rodgers much hope against Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

But Celtic proved many people wrong by producing a defensive masterclass of the highest order against a team that has scored the most goals in Italy’s top tier this season.

The biggest issue for the team was the defence and Celtic’s 7-1 thumping at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last time out because it was stinging and damaging.

That resulted in many people getting verbally battered left, right and centre. No more so than the manager himself.

Yet fast forward to the present and Celtic record a goalless draw against Atalanta, with a much-deserved point in the bag and the players getting their flowers.

Even though Cameron Carter-Vickers trained with Celtic before the Atalanta match, he didn’t feature with summer signing Auston Trusty playing alongside Liam Scales.

Auston Trusty’s best game at Celtic ‘by a country mile’

It’s fair to say that it had been a quiet start from Trusty, but now he has showcased his worth to the fans and why Rodgers brought him in.

Neil Lennon stated that the USMNT international ‘headed everything’ during the game and proceeded to play his best match in a Celtic shirt ‘by a country mile’, as he told TNT Sports (23/10/24 at 8:00 pm).

This will be music to the ears of the supporters because this is exactly what is needed.

“It’s important moments like that can give you confidence in this journey that they are on, at the minute.,” said Lennon about Celtic’s last-ditch defending.

“Trusty was like a head on a stick. He headed everything. That’s the best he has played for Celtic by a country mile.

“Again, it will give them a psychological belief that they can make inroads in this group now. No one gave them a chance, particularly on the back of Dortmund, so they have shut a lot of people up.”

Auston Trusty stats for Celtic against Atalanta

This should now give Trusty a lot of belief and confidence that he can become a starter for Celtic, regardless of Carter-Vickers’ status.

Remember, he can play across the backline and you just wonder if Rodgers will explore that down the line.

But, for now, he was handed a rating of 7.32 for the clean sheet against Atalanta, with WhoScored sharing that he made 14 clearances during the match.