Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers made four changes to his line-up as the Bhoys swatted Motherwell aside to reclaim their spot at the Scottish Premiership summit.
Luke McCowan got his first start for the club in the engine room. Meanwhile, Paulo Bernardo, Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest came in to freshen up Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Despite having to feel their way into the game, Celtic ended up comfortably seeing off Motherwell and will now look forward to trying to prolong their domestic unbeaten run against Dundee on Wednesday.
Despite the feel-good factor, one or two were surprised to see Arne Engels left on the bench yesterday amid his record £11 million move to Parkhead.
Now, Brendan Rodgers has explained the reason for his omission as Celtic look ahead following an excellent triumph at Fir Park.
Brendan Rodgers on why Arne Engels didn’t start vs Motherwell
Speaking after his side’s victory, Rodgers admitted that Engels was rested as Celtic took on Motherwell and thanked the club hierarchy for soliciting deals for players to aid his squad rotation mission.
He stated [MailOnline]: “I’ve told the players they all have a role to play. Don’t ever think it’s just about the XI because, with how we work and with the number of games and the energy we have to put in, they all know they have a big contribution to make.
‘We were able to rest Arne, who’s come in as a young player and played so many games. The distance he covered in midweek (against Atalanta) was huge.
“I’m obviously very grateful to the club for getting the players in that allows us to do that.”
Arne Engels has time to deliver at Celtic
Following his big-money move from Augsburg, there has been high expectation on Engels to deliver at Celtic.
Despite external noise surrounding the Belgium international, Rodgers offered a robust defence of ‘fantastic’ talent Engels and has claimed anyone expecting him to be the finished article straight away is off the mark.
Ultimately, you pay for potential in modern-day football. The Dendermonde-born man has some great attributes and is already showing his worth, claiming two goals and three assists in ten Celtic appearances.
Perspective is needed when examining new recruits, and Engels has plenty of time on his side to become a household name in Glasgow’s east end.
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