Celtic vs Lincoln Red Imps - Brendan Rodgers says Celtic need to be patient

Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016 by PA

Brendan Rodgers is confident Celtic fans will have the patience that might be needed to get past Lincoln Red Imps in their Champions League qualifier at Parkhead.

The Hoops are surprisingly trailing 1-0 to the part-timers after last week's shock defeat in the first leg of the second round in Gibraltar.

Rodgers expects Lincoln to pack their defence again and believes players and supporters may have to wait for a breakthrough.

However, he is confident that understanding in the stands will not be an issue.

The former Liverpool boss said: "The message to the players is similar to the supporters, it is that first 20 minutes if we don't score a goal then you have to be patient and for that you need the support.

"But thankfully, I understand the Celtic supporters, they understand the game, they know football and patience is something they have been accustomed to.

"You can be an attacking team but there are times when the ball can't go forward, it has to be circulated.

"Our team will always be set up to create and score goals but if it doesn't come the message is, they just have to be patient because you might take one hour or 70 minutes in any game before you break a team down and then you can score two, three, four, five goals in the last 20 minutes.

"So if the game is needing the patience then I am sure the Celtic supporters will support the team."

Rodgers revealed that defender Erik Sviatchenko "is fine" after being taken off with a head knock in the first half of the 2-1 friendly win against Wolfsburg on Saturday although midfielders Nir Bitton (hip flexor) and Stefan Johansen (ankle) are "probably unavailable" albeit both men will be assessed.

Lincoln assistant manager Mick McElwee expects the Gibraltarians to face an early onslaught.

Striker Lee Casciaro's goal gave the Red Imps their unlikely win over the Hoops and McElwee, a life-long fan of the Scottish champions, predicted a whirlwind opening from Rodgers' side.

He said: "There's going to be a number of factors that come into play while you try to achieve keeping a clean sheet for the first 20 minutes.

"That could be our philosophy. But that first 20 minutes is going to be like a storm, because the Celtic players are going to be looking for an early goal.

"It's not going to turn out the way we want it to turn out and it's not going to turn out the way Celtic want it to turn out, because both teams are going to be cancelling little bits of each other out as we go along.

"If we can sneak a goal, it makes life very difficult for Celtic but if they get an early goal, the game is on."