BRENDAN Rodgers has revealed how telling his Celtic players they could not afford to “feel sorry” for themselves during his half-time team talk in the William Hill Premiership game against Ross County in Dingwall today had sparked their fightback.

The Scottish champions, thrashed 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund in their second Champions League league phase match in Germany on Tuesday night, were far from their best in the opening 45 minutes of the top flight encounter.

The visitors fell 1-0 behind when Ronan Hale converted a penalty – which referee Kevin Clancy ordered be retaken for Kasper Schmeichel coming off his line before he struck his first attempt – two minutes before the break.

However, Callum McGregor and his team mates were much improved in the second half and secured a narrow 2-1 victory thanks to an Alistair Johnston goal and a late Nicolas Kuhn strike.  

Read more:

Rodgers - whose men are still level on points with Aberdeen, who beat Hearts 3-2 at Pittodrie yesterday, at the top of the table entering the international break – confessed some harsh words had been spoken at half-time. 

“We deserved to win the game,” he said. “But in the first half we were too slow and too passive. It wasn't very good. We're a team that can never look for an easy game. It just looked a little bit ponderous and a bit slow and then we didn't create enough. In the second half, especially when the subs come on, we bring a new energy to the game.

“In the aftermath of the midweek game, I said I've got absolutely 100 per cent confidence in the resilience of this team. That's all about grit and determination and fight and we had that in the bucket loads. We had to show that and the players did.

“We'll learn from the game today because the new guys coming in will see that there's no easy game and you can't look for it either. You've got to do the work and over the course of the 90 minutes we did the work and got the result.

“We're a running team, it's a running game that we play. Once we start to do that, then the game looks different. Ross County have started the season really well, made it difficult for teams. We knew we had to work really hard to get through.”

(Image: PA) Rodgers added: “It's a Celtic tradition, isn't it? It's how the game is played at this club. We had thousands of fans turn up in Dortmund. They've seen what they've seen, which wasn't great, but they give us great support at the end of the game.

“Now they're having to come up here for a 12 o'clock kick-off. So the very least you can do is run your heart out right to the very end. That's what this club's about. It's the fabric of this club. You keep going to the end.

“I said that at half-time. If you’re looking for an easy game or you're feeling sorry for yourself, whatever it is, it's not enough. We have to go and impose our way of playing and get the energy back into the game again. And then obviously the second half we were much better. It's a great start for us, seven wins out of seven.”

Rodgers singled out match winner Kuhn, the German winger who took his tally for the 2024/25 campaign to six with his crucial effort, for special praise following the final whistle.

“The second goal was a fantastic goal,” he said. “Nicolas does really, really well. We encourage a lot of square balls for low finishes. But if he plays it to Kyogo (Furuhashi), he's offside. So he stays on it, makes the right decision, has another touch and then finishes it so well.

“He's been absolutely brilliant. I think his fitness has improved, he's looking more robust now, which is important. He is churning out the games and looks a real threat for us. He's contributing in a big way. And that's what you need your wingers to do, create goals, score goals, but also do the dirty side of the game. He's doing it really, really well.”