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7 Brendan Rodgers Celtic presser takeaways on McGregor surprise and Hatate sympathy

Some teams would have been glad for the international break but it probably didn't come at a great time for Celtic.

The Hoops have started the season on fire, not just from an attacking point of view but defensively too as they have hit 12 goals without conceding ANY in their opening four Premiership matches. They were very much in their groove before breaking up for international duty and Brendan Rodgers would have been keen to keep going.

He shouldn't have much trouble getting his players' focus back though, especially with the visitors this weekend being Hearts, who managed to beat them twice last season. There's always the injury worry when players are away with their countries and Alistair Johnston had to be subbed out of Canada's first match.

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The Northern Irishman answered questions on this and a range of topics at his presser today ahead of facing the Jambos and here we have picked out the main takeaways.

Alistair Johnston injury

Jesse [Marsch] was sensible with Ali in terms of how he felt in the game. They took him off and sent him back. It was just a precaution, really. He had similar going into the Rangers game. We were able to protect him and he's travelled, gone away, felt a little bit of tightness, and [Canada] managed him really well. We brought him back and he's trained well.

AJ and Greg Taylor contracts

Taylor: No update. I really hope that we can get something organised on that. He's a fantastic player for us, how he makes that position work, how we want it to look, he's first class. He knows we really want him to stay and hopefully between his representatives and the club, we can organise that because he is a player that I really rate. I've seen him grow here from the outside looking in and obviously having the chance to work with him now for over a season. I really like everything about Greg. I love his personality, I love his spirit, I love how he plays the game of course. He plays the game like a midfield player coming from that outside position in, so he really makes it difficult for the opposition. He's technically strong for what we could say smaller in stature, he competes in his duels, he wins headers, so he does a lot of really good things in games which I really like and really appreciate. I really hope that we can tie him down in this period now. That would be a real priority for us to try and get something sorted for him.

Celtic pair Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston could bag new contracts
Celtic pair Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston could bag new contracts -Credit:SNS Group

Johnston: There is nothing that I am aware of. We would love to have him here for as long as we possibly can. He has three-and-a-half years left on his deal and he is playing ever so well. He has his power, strength and running ability and he is in a really good place. Naturally, as a manager we want him to be here but that is something that is between his representatives and the club.

Surprise at first CalMac POTM

I am surprised by that. What I love about Callum and it is also what this club brings you. Being at Celtic is all about a culture of winning and to be a winner there is a process involved in that. That process is training and when you are in the programme for long enough what you will be is a player who is super fit, intense and consistent and that's Callum McGregor. That all comes from being a Celtic player. You need the intensity to be here, you need the focus, and you get that fitness. The other Celtic boys here the likes of Tony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, James Forrest - that's what they bring. Callum as the captain really typifies what being a Celtic player is. Performing consistently at the level that I know these guys have been at from when I was up here the first time then it is a surprise that this is Callum's first Player of the Month award and that fact is correct.

Defensive work

That’s the dirty bit that doesn’t get noticed so much from the stands. From a coach and player’s perspective, it’s everything. For me, the defensive philosophy coincides with the attacking philosophy. You need to be good in that defensive side and your structure. Being defensively sound gives you that opportunity to attack more. That’s what we’re seeing over the course of the season - that aggression and winning duels, as well as winning second and third balls. All of that dirty stuff allows you to attack more. If you neglect that side, then you don’t attack the same. Why? Because you won’t have the same amount of time on the ball because you’re defending more. The better your counter-pressing and defending and how tighter you are, the more synchronised you are - this gives you the opportunity to score more goals. That side of it I’m so happy with at the moment. That’s the edge that we want to have. We made that agreement in the summer that it’s defending first, and that’s not a negative because it helps us attack better. All the work we did throughout pre-season over the course of it and fine-tuning things where we could press well. We want to keep clean sheets ideally but you can’t always do that. We’ve shown over this opening period that that is the mantra. For any of my teams, that always has been the case. Pressing well allows you to pass the ball well and create opportunities.

Hatate international frustration

I felt a wee bit for him. I saw in the first game that he wasn’t involved and Daizen was - and scored, which was great. Then, he wasn’t involved in the second game and I was disappointed for him because he had gone out there and trained and travelled. He’s come back and still been positive. He’s going to work even harder and just try to be as consistent as possible. Hopefully, that will be a great motivating factor for him in these next number of games.

Arne Engels becomes Belgium star

He is a very young player. It was great for him being a young player who has played a lot of games in the Bundesliga. He was on the way to a talented Belgium squad. It was really nice as we brought him in and he got his first cap and his first feel of being a Celtic player in a Rangers game and now he's back and motivated to do well like the others.

Hearts struggles

In terms of points, it’s probably been a challenge for Steven, with European football as well. They will improve, and I don’t have any other thoughts on that other than they will improve. It’s still very early on in the season. I believe I’m right in saying Steven signed a new contract in the summer, so he clearly feels wanted and appreciated by the club, so they want him to continue with the work. They’ll be expected to improve, but I’m pretty sure they will. For me, we just have to be ready for a really good game. We’re in a really good mood to keep our performance levels as high as possible and make it as difficult as we can for Hearts tomorrow.