Brendan Rodgers’ baffling treatment of Celtic star needs to be questioned after Rangers defeat

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You can look at the bigger picture and the fact that Celtic are on course to win the Premiership title.

But that doesn’t mean that Brendan Rodgers should brush aside what has happened in recent Glasgow derby matches.

Celtic’s 3-2 defeat to Rangers on Sunday was deserved, but worryingly it’s the same theme repeating itself and the champions-elect had no answer.

You can accept the performance in December at Hampden because Celtic won the League Cup final and showed serious mental strength to see it through via penalties.

But, in that game, as well as the Ibrox defeat after the New Year, and the most recent loss, Rangers have allowed Celtic to have the ball, been aggressive without it and pressed high.

It has resulted in Kasper Schmeichel in between the sticks, the backline at the time and the midfield not being able to control the match.

The biggest worry of them all is the defence and how they can’t seem to cope with that pressure, but one man did show that against Rangers.

• READ MORE: Chris Sutton puts Robbie Savage in his place after bizarre Rangers boast with Celtic truth bombs

Maik Nawrocki deserves more game time at Celtic

Chris Sutton lauded Maik Nawrocki, despite the derby defeat and thought, given his 23 minutes on the pitch this season, he looked at home.

So, imagine what will happen if you increase those minutes? Rather than keep Nawrocki on the bench for a Champions League tie at Aston Villa when everyone is injured and proceed to bring on a youngster instead. 

You have to question Rodgers’ baffling treatment of Nawrocki because he must be doing something seriously wrong on the training pitch.

Out on the field, he looks good enough to wear the club colours.

Auston Trusty and Liam Scales’ injuries are unknown, in terms of the timescales, but hopefully, this isn’t a one-off game for Nawrocki.

With the title nearly wrapped up for Celtic, the Polish star needs to be used more because he could prove to be a help in the long term.

Nawrocki’s stats for Celtic against Rangers

Look, this isn’t a case of Nawrocki being the absolute concrete answer to Celtic’s recent defensive issues, but how he should play more.

Let the fans see what he is about and then he can be properly judged, rather than sitting on the bench, and even at times, not even being in the matchday squad.

WhoScored rated his performance over seven – he was the only Celtic defender – to earn a rating of over seven.