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

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Celtic went nine points clear of Rangers in their win at Kilmarnock this afternoon.

Much of the build up to today’s game was centred around the 12th-minute Celtic fan protest against the board.

However, once all of that settled down, Brendan Rodgers’ side got down to business and, in truth, the rest of the 33 minutes of that first half passed Celtic by.

Celtic hero Daizen Maeda opened the scoring with a cute header on the 55th minute only for Kilmarnock to equalise with less than ten-minutes to go.

However, new summer signing Kelechi Iheanacho spared Celtic’s blushes as he rifled home an impressive last-minute penalty to ensure all three points travelled back to Parkhead.

And Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was delighted.

• READ MORE: Brian Dempsey sends the board a warning about Celtic supporters with some timely advice

Brendan Rodgers tells three debutants about how important late Celtic wins are

Speaking post-match, Rodgers was delighted with the win and shared what the ‘new guys’ in the dressing room were told about Celtic’s late win.

Speaking about Kelechi Iheanacho, Marcelo Sarrachi and Sebastian Tounekti, all three players now know what it’s like to pick up a late win as a Celtic player.

Rodgers said on BBC Radio Scotland, “I said to the players and in there afterwards that the new guys probably don’t know the importance of a win like this here.

“The guys who’ve been around it a long time, some of us and had really important wins here, because it’s not easy.

“The pitch, Kilmarnock are well organised, some good players in there that make it difficult for you, very direct style.

“So you have to deal with all of that. The balls out of play a lot because of throw ins and long throws and everything else.

“But we stood up to that and yeah, and we get the win, and you get the one here, it’s obviously, it’s always a really good win.”

Celtic’s next fixture at home is going to be huge

Celtic’s next fixture is at Parkhead is going to be huge for the support and Brendan Rodgers.

The home game since fans decided to take action against the board and the odds are that there will be something bigger planned than today’s protest.

Next up is Hibs at Celtic Park where another three points will help establish Brendan Rodgers’ lead at the top of the league table just before the next international break.