‘Will be tough’ – Brendan Rodgers outlines where Celtic plan to improve ahead of Motherwell clash

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Celtic take on Motherwell this Boxing Day as Brendan Rodgers’ men look forward to their penultimate assignment of 2024.

Unfortunately, the Bhoys couldn’t capitalise on their dominance against Dundee United and had to settle for a point at Tannadice that has taken them nine points clear at the summit.

Returning to home soil, Celtic will hope to push their advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership to double figures before Rangers take on St Mirren in the late kick-off on Thursday evening.

They face a Motherwell side on a three-match unbeaten run of their own, though the Bhoys will hope Alistair Johnston and Nicolas Kuhn can return after suffering injury setbacks that forced them to miss out at Tannadice.

Brendan Rodgers is no newcomer to the hefty pre-season schedule his side experience every year and knows that results over performances is the bottom line to continue winning momentum into the New Year.

Following a drab stalemate against Dundee United, the Irishman has now highlighted what Celtic need to improve when Motherwell come to town.

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic’s Boxing Day clash vs Motherwell

Speaking ahead of the clash, Rodgers made clear that he wants his Celtic side to be more ‘clinical’ against Motherwell to avoid a repeat scenario of their draw with Dundee United.

He stated [Celtic FC]: “It’s always great to play in front of our own supporters.We love playing at home, we love being at home. The crowd give us great support, like they did at Dundee United.

“But it’s one that we’re looking forward to, one we want to take three points and we want to put on a performance that merits all the great support that we get.”

Later, he added: “It will be tough. They’ll defend the space deep and we’ll have to be really bright and clever in order to break through that pressure.

“We had a challenging game against them earlier in the season so I would expect the same. We would just need to be more clinical in our game than what we have been recently.

“We had a number of guys out on Sunday so hopefully we arrive into Thursday’s game, we’ll see how they are but we should have one or two back to give us that depth in our squad.”

Celtic hopeful Dundee United was just a minor bump in the road

Days like last Sunday against Dundee United can happen; you won’t find a season in Celtic history that hasn’t had one or two instances of dropped points.

However, the main thing now is for Rodgers and company to show the match was just a minor blip during a packed fixture schedule.

Ultimately, Celtic are still in a really healthy position that everyone would’ve snapped your hand off for at the start of the season. Even when they aren’t winning games, clean sheets don’t seem to be a problem.

Once Santa has been and gone, a late Christmas present against Motherwell would leave the support feeling jolly heading into their clash with St Johnstone three days later.