Brendan Rodgers backs Celtic’s ‘great guy’ to recapture best form

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Brendan Rodgers is tipping one of Celtic’s underperforming players to rediscover their best form.

The Hoops have had a stop-start season, despite conceding two goals in all competitions so far and leading the Scottish Premiership table.

Tensions between supporters and the hierarchy have led to a vote of no confidence in the board, with large sections of the away support protesting against Kilmarnock.

Some players have struggled with the confidence too, but Rodgers knows one will be back to his best soon.

• READ MORE: What Frank McAvennie ‘always said’ about Celtic duo Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda & the Premier League

Brendan Rodgers sends a message of support to Daizen Maeda

Daizen Maeda has had a more difficult summer than most at Celtic.

Maeda wanted to leave but was denied the chance to move due to the Hoops being unable to find a suitable replacement.

His goal against Kilmarnock was just the second of the season, and after Callum McGregor came out in support of Maeda, Rodgers has done the same.

“I think it’s been a real, challenging summer for him. Maybe he felt naturally that his future was going to be elsewhere,” he told Celtic TV.

But I think we can all see from that personality and that humility he has that it probably won’t take him long to get back to play how everyone knows him: playing 150 per cent, working, pressing, and always being there for the goal.

“He’s such a great guy. Whatever the summer brought, it’s gone now, and for him now it’s just about doing the very best he possibly can.”

Should Daizen Maeda start against Partick Thistle?

Next up for Celtic is a short trip across Glasgow to face Partick Thistle in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup.

Rodgers says he has missed visiting Firhill but with the Europa League campaign beginning just a few days later, decisions will have to be made on the XI.

On the one hand, keeping the momentum going for the likes of Maeda is important but on the other, giving players like Paulo Bernardo some much-needed game time is just as vital.

A trip to Serbia is by no means the same as the Champions League visit to Kairat Almaty, but resting the best and allowing Kelechi Iheanacho, Johnny Kenny, and maybe Callum Osmand some minutes should be enough firepower.