Brendan Rodgers praised Arne Engels for his contribution to Celtic's win over Motherwell, and from what he is seeing from his £11m midfielder in training, he is certain he will only get better and better.

Engels calmly tucked away the crucial opener from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time, and his dangerous delivery also led to Celtic's second goal as Liam Scales flicked his corner on for Daizen Maeda to finish.

Engels has been in and out of the Celtic starting XI in recent weeks, but Rodgers is sure that there is so much more to come from the young Belgian.

"I just think it's about time with him," Rodgers said.

"He's really enjoying his time here. I've taken him out for some games just to let him see from the outside looking in and take that pressure away from him because it's a big move and everything that comes with it.

"But he's been excellent in training and he's only going to get better and better. When he's asked to step up in pressure moments, he delivers and that was an important first penalty for us. His ball in for the corner was absolutely great as well. So I’m really pleased with Arne."

Rodgers believes there is a lot more to come from his team too as a whole, despite their eventual 4-0 triumph over the Steelmen.

Celtic huffed and puffed a little in the first half before blowing Motherwell away in the second 45, with their reinforcements from the bench contributing to a much improved showing after the interval.

That pleased Rodgers after the goalless draw against Dundee United at Tannadice last time out, but he feels there are still gears that his side can go through.

"I think there is still more to come," he said.

"If you compare the performance level to the early parts of the season, obviously, of course, you're playing less [at that stage] and you're maybe not as fatigued or whatever else. But still, we still demand, even in a really hectic schedule, the intensity that we want to play at.

"That's our intention getting into every game. It's important that we continue to always look to up the level. And that's what we continually look to do.

"Against United, we didn't create as much in the final third. We arrived there but weren't as ruthless or as clinical as we could be. But that was there today.

"To keep that intensity in the team is so, so important because you can’t use the same players all the time. And I think that's the difference with this year. I feel I can make those changes without disrupting the way we want to play so much.

"And most importantly, the intensity of how we want to play. The guys go in and do a really good job but we can bring that extra spark and extra spirit into the game which has paid off for us.

"I think there is still more to come. If you compare the performance level to the early parts of the season, obviously, of course, you're playing less [at that stage] and you're maybe not as fatigued or whatever else. But still, we still demand, even in a really hectic schedule, the intensity that we want to play at.

"That's our intention getting into every game. It's important that we continue to always look to up the level. And that's what we continually look to do.

"Against United, we didn't create as much in the final third. We arrived there but weren't as ruthless or as clinical as we could be. But that was there today.

"To keep that intensity in the team is so, so important because you can’t use the same players all the time. And I think that's the difference with this year. I feel I can make those changes without disrupting the way we want to play so much. And most importantly, the intensity of how we want to play.

"The guys go in and do a really good job but we can bring that extra spark and extra spirit into the game which has paid off for us."