Brendan Rodgers expects trio to be fit for semi-final showdown with Aberdeen

Posted Thursday, October 31, 2024 by PA

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers feels they are going into Saturday’s Hampden showdown with unbeaten Aberdeen in ideal shape after a good day on and off the park for his squad.

Second-half goals from Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels kept Celtic on top of the William Hill Premiership thanks to a 2-0 home win over Dundee.

Celtic were without the injured Callum McGregor, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah but all three are expected to be fit to face the Dons in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals, with the latter getting good news from a scan on the ankle injury he suffered at Motherwell on Sunday.

“All three will be fine,” Rodgers said. “Nicolas Kuhn had a sore hip after the game at the weekend. But he trained earlier, so that was good. Callum as well, and Adam also. We’ll see their reaction. Hopefully, it will be all right.

“I think he’s got away with one there, Adam. He’s still a bit sore, a bit swollen, but the medical team tell me he’s done a bit of work. So, hopefully no reaction to it.”

Both Celtic and Aberdeen moved nine points ahead of Rangers after the Dons beat the Light Blues 2-1 at Pittodrie.

When asked if he was surprised it was Jimmy Thelin’s side and not Rangers who were proving to be their main challengers, Rodgers said: “Listen, Aberdeen have had a fantastic start. That’s a really good result for them. But as I’m sure you can respect, my focus is very much on Celtic.

“Our guys have made a brilliant start also, in terms of how they’ve been playing, the goals they’ve been scoring, secure defensively in the main and in a really good position in the Champions League.

“But it’s still so early. My first marker is after 10 games. And if I look at it after 10 games, then we’ve made a really good start. Aberdeen are there as well, but there’s still such a long way to go.

“I love going to Hampden and we’re in a really good place arriving into there. We’ve got players coming back and hopefully it’ll be a really exciting game.”

Rodgers made six changes for Dundee’s visit and was pleased with the outcome.

“It’s one of those ones where you can be more comfortable in the game if you get those early goals with two massive chances in that first period of the game,” he said.

“But it was job done. We controlled the game, created chances, should have had more goals and didn’t concede. So we have to be happy.”

Dundee manager Tony Docherty felt his side were harshly treated by referee Ross Hardie and his VAR team after conceding a penalty for a foul on Kyogo Furuhashi from Antonio Portales.

The visitors claimed Arne Engels had pulled Mohamad Sylla before breaking and playing the ball through for the Japan striker.

“I thought the boys deserved a clean sheet for the amount of work they put in out of possession,” he said.

“I think the penalty is really soft. I think there’s a foul that leads up to it on Mo Sylla. I don’t know why they don’t pick that up. I’ve seen it back.”