LEE Lucas, the Motherwell midfielder, says Brendan Rodgers helped to make him the player he is today as he continues to harbour his international aspirations at Fir Park.
The midfielder and the now Celtic manager worked with each other at Swansea as the youngster was coming through as an up-and-coming talent of both club at the Liberty Stadium and country with Wales.
Rodgers of course went on to almost take Liverpool to Premier League glory before revolutionising Celtic this season, and his former protege is not surprised that Scottish football has been blown away by the man who helped guide him through the Swansea ranks.
Lucas said: “It originally came from when Roberto Martinez was in charge at Swansea, I was in the youth team at the time and he brought in that style of football.
“So it came from him to begin with and then Brendan came in and he was a massive part of me coming through as a youngster, turning professional, training with him every day helped make me what I am now.
“That’s where I learned most of my football.
“It didn’t surprise me with the job he did at Liverpool when he nearly won the league and then when he came to Celtic I knew instantly he’s do a massive job.
“It doesn’t surprise me when I watch Celtic now because what he does there is what he brought to Swansea, the press and players’ ability on the ball. That’s what Swansea were like when he was there and they competed with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and the big teams.
“It’s what Celtic are doing now and it’s hard for everyone else to compete with them, the way he has them set up and the type of players he’s got there he’s doing a brilliant job.
“It was unfortunate when Brendan left [Swansea] because I was progressing well, he took time with the youngsters and he treated everyone the same. He was really good to me.”
When the two last worked together, Lucas was just a young 20-year-old on the cusp of the Swansea squad – Rodgers gave him his only first team appearance in a 4-0 win over Sheffield United back in 2011 – but his ambitions have not faded with the passing of time.
Now at Motherwell, the midfielder is hoping exposure at the top level of Scottish football and a steady run of games for Mark McGhee will re-open up his dream of a maiden call up from Wales manager Chris Coleman.
Lucas has played at various levels for his country, including captaining the Under 21s, but has yet to pull on a red jersey at senior level. And speaking ahead of tonight’s game with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, the Motherwell man said: “Playing for Wales is my main ambition.
“It’s massive for me, but my focus is to play here first and get a run of games.
“I think when you are playing every week at this level there’s always a chance you might get a call up.
“I’m fully focused on getting the team playing well. Hopefully that chance will come for me.”
Turning his attention to tonight’s test against the high-flying Dons, Lucas appeared undeterred by Aberdeen’s recent run of form that has seen Derek McInnes’ team win seven out of their last eight games. Indeed, despite a recent blip that has seen Motherwell pick up just one win in five, a victory tonight would propel McGhee’s side into the top six.
“Aberdeen have been going well this season,” said Lucas. “But we’re also aware we can go there, with a gameplan and if we can execute that we can come away with a result.”
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