Brendan Rodgers reveals Celtic tactical tweak vs Rangers which ended clumsy build up in Premier Sports Cup Final

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Brendan Rodgers has explained why he took Auston Trusty off for Liam Scales at half-time of the Premier Sports Cup Final win over Rangers.

The Celtic manager knew something had to give at the break as his side trailed a Nedim Bajrami goal from what was ultimately a poor first-45.

It was Trusty who was the man to be sacrificed with Scales coming on to replace him to help aid the build-up play Rodgers wanted his squad to improve on.

The move worked, in the end, despite a frantic 3-3 draw which saw Celts go 2-1 ahead thanks to Greg Taylor and Daizen Maeda before Mo Diomande levelled.

• READ MORE: Celtic player ratings vs Rangers as 9/10 star helps overcome rivals to lift trophy

Nicolas Kuhn thought he had won the tie late on but Danilo levelled just 20 seconds after the restart.

Penalties came and went and it was both Maeda and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel who were the heroes, in the end.

Some had speculated that Trusty had perhaps picked up a knock in the first-half but Rodgers, speaking on Premier Sports, revealed it was a tactical tweak to give his side the edge.

“I thought we had no cleanliness in our build-up at all,” Rodgers explained.

Auston Trusty was replaced at half-time to end Celtic’s ‘clunky’ play

“We looked so clunky and couldn’t get through the pitch. We looked a wee bit edgy. So I didn’t like that, how we cleaned the game up. Scales has been brilliant, to be fair.

“He’s clean and Auston Trusty did really, really well. I just felt that he’s had the experience of playing in finals for us now, Liam. I just made that change and he came in and he was able to clean the game up.”

It was Rodgers’ 10th trophy as Celtic manager to take the club beyond Rangers in silverware wins.

And the manager was chuffed to see the result go his way.

“It’s always nice when you come out the other end,” Rodgers added. “I suppose it’s what a final is, you don’t expect everything to go your own way.

Celtic won their 10th trophy under Brendan Rodgers at Hampden

“I thought Rangers played well in the first half. We had to show a big heart to come back. I think both sets of players made it a really, really exciting game.

“But the guys know you want to come out on the right end and thankfully we were able to do that.

“These guys have been around it a long time and set the standards as well. So it can never be a disease success. You’ve got to keep fighting, keep working every day, and then hopefully things drop for you.

“It was an exciting game for the neutral to see. As I said, the goals at the end, but to come out the other side of it, the guys with the penalties were fantastic as well. Kasper makes the save and we pulled through in the end.”