- Celtic twice come from behind to see off Bairns at Celtic Park
- Four second-half substitutes save Celtic’s blushes after
- New signings Aaron Trusty and Alex Valle make first starts for club
BRENDAN RODGERS vowed that he won’t make so many changes to his line-up again after Celtic had to dig deep to see off Falkirk.
Coming off the back of an emphatic win over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League, the Parkhead boss made eight alterations to his starting side.
Twice behind in the first half against the Championship outfit, Rodgers made four substitutions on the hour mark which changed the course of the match. Nicolas Kuhn then twice set up Adam Idah, with the German also finding time to score twice himself.
Relieved that an unconvincing first half display ultimately hadn’t prevented his side from advancing to a semi-final clash with Aberdeen, Rodgers promised that he wouldn’t again take as many risks.
‘I thought Falkirk were excellent,’ said Rodgers. ‘It was a little bit disconnected for the first 60 minutes, and that’s on me, it’s not on the players.
‘When you make eight changes like that… I wanted to get some players in and play in the stadium, get in their first minutes of the season, playing with the team.
‘That’s the most changes I’ll ever make.
‘Normally, I would make one change per line, the back line or a triangle in midfield, one change there or in the front line.
‘If you look at my history as a coach, you’ll see that I wouldn’t normally make so many, but that’s the risk that you take.’
Celtic fell behind to Ross MacIvor’s early strike with the Bairns scoring again in first half stoppage time through Finn Yeats after Paulo Bernardo had equalised.
Reflecting on an underwhelming opening period, Rodgers added: ‘In some moments we looked good, and in other moments there was just that little bit of hesitancy.
‘That comes from just not playing so much. But we knew we always had the bench to pull on if we needed it, especially in that last 30 minutes where Falkirk put so much into the game, and then the energy can maybe just start to get sucked a wee bit.
‘We could then put some speed and tempo and rhythm into the game, and by the end, we were very good.’
Auston Trusty made his first start, while Alex Valle made his first appearance since joining on loan from Barcelona.
Understanding of the factors that may have prevented them from making their desired impressions, the manager said: ‘I think they’re coming into a complex system, and that’s why I didn’t throw them in straight away — they’d hardly had any training for a little bit of time. But now they’re up to speed a little bit.’
Valle was questionable at both goals, with his appeal for a foul as MacIvor netted coming to nothing,
Asked if the Spaniard had been given a crash course in what awaits him here, the manager said: ‘100 per cent. It’s a crash course in British football, isn’t it? You might get that (a free-kick) in Spain, but you certainly won’t get it in Britain. He’ll learn that, and he’s a good kid. He’s only young.
‘He’s settled in really, really well into the city, into the club, and he’s there for us when he’s needed.’
Rodgers was effusive in his praise of Kuhn, who turned the game on its head with two assists and two goals.
‘Man of the match in 30 minutes, it’s quite nice, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘It was fantastic when he came into the game. He’s developing into a really, really good player, being effective, which is what you want with him, without the ball.’
Rodgers is now relishing the prospect of facing a resurgent Aberdeen side at Hampden in the last four.
‘I think it’s always important just to get there and then I always have a good feeling on that big pitch and how we can play,’ he said.
‘Clearly, they’ve started the season really well in terms of results. I haven’t seen them so much in terms of performance and how they actually play and shape up, but we’ll do that nearer the time.
‘We’ll play them just after the international break, and then we’ll play them again in the cup. So, yes, I think when you get to the semi-final stage and the finals, you’ve got to do your work — and we’ll look forward to that when it comes.’
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston weren’t in the squad, with the American defender a sight concern ahead of Saturday’s trip to play St Johnstone.
The 26-year-old has an issue with his metatarsal, but Johnston should be fine after taking an injection on his back.
