Brendan Rodgers explains decision to sideline Jota vs St Mirren as forward tweaks made

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Brendan Rodgers has explained why Jota has been sidelined for Celtic’s clash with St Mirren this evening.

The winger rejoined Celtic back in January having barely kicked a ball with Rennes this campaign, making only nine appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.

Jota was thrown into the deep end with Celtic and cried tears of joy after scoring on his re-debut away to Motherwell having come off the bench in that one.

His match fitness has not been 100 percent and Rodgers understands the toll starting and playing regularly for the Scottish Premiership runaway leaders can take.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	28	23	3	2	82	15	67	72
2	RangersRangers	28	18	5	5	58	24	34	59
3	AberdeenAberdeen	28	12	5	11	36	44	-8	41
4	HibernianHibernian	28	10	10	8	42	39	3	40
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	28	11	7	10	34	34	0	40
6	Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian	28	10	6	12	40	38	2	36

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Brendan Rodgers reveals reason behind resting Celtic’s Jota

That is why, ahead of the clash in Paisley at the SMiSA Stadium, Jota has been named on the bench with the manager opting to shuffle his deck and bring Adam Idah back in to lead the line.

Rodgers explained his decision-making process and revealed the Portuguese star had felt “tired” in the build-up to this one.

Speaking on BBC Sportsound before kick-off, Rodgers said: “For Jota he’s played a lot of football over this period of time when he hasn’t played a lot of football over a long period of time.

“So I’ve always said him coming back was going to be building him up to the level. He felt a little bit tired so there’s no need to risk any sort of injury with him when we’ve still got so many games to play.

“Adam gives us physicality and brings Daizen to the side of the pitch where he does equally well and then we have Jota and the other players to come into the game if needed.”

Jota’s omission allows Daizen Maeda to move to his natural position

It means Daizen Maeda is back on the left-flank in what is still a seriously strong position for the Japanese and, perhaps, his most natural area despite his incredible goals return this term.

The attacking buzzbomb has banged in an incredible 25 goals this season which has dwarfed his own tally of previous seasons in Glasgow.

Maeda is a shoo-in for player of the year with Nicolas Kuhn and Callum McGregor two other options for the award.