Brendan Rodgers: Our most important player is the team

The games keep on coming for Celtic with Dundee making the trip to the East End of Glasgow tomorrow night (Wednesday) to face the champions. Tony Docherty’s side haven’t had their troubles to seek of late with one win amid a clutch of defeats, but Brendan Rodgers’ approach to the game won’t change, with good reason, and he also referenced Luke McCowan’s move from Dens Park to Celtic Park. He said of Dundee’s fortunes: “You go through little runs. Obviously the Kilmarnock game will have hurt them before the international break, having been up in the game and then losing that one. “They got a good win away at Motherwell which is a tough place to go, and then to lose at the weekend. “So probably the last five or six games have not been ideal in terms of results, but Tony has done a fantastic job there – they lose their best player and lose their captain in the summer. “So that can always make an impact, but Tony has good experience in the game and how he has managed his club has been fantastic. “You’ll go through spells in this league where you maybe don’t get the run of games and the run of results, but for us, I always think it’s a dangerous moment for a team. “Because they are looking for that big performance, and you know that teams will always give that extra bit against the champions. “So we have to guard against that and make sure that we’re right on our game, and look to win, and obviously win how we want to.” While the Hoops battle it out with Dundee, second and third face off against each other with Aberdeen hosting Rangers at Pittodrie, but the Hoops manager’s complete focus will be on what’s happening in front of him at Celtic Park. He said: “Our focus is on our own, you can only look after yourself. “I’m so pleased with how the team had been playing, how we’ve been functioning, how we’ve been working, and if we look and think of anything else, then that can take away from our performance. ‘So, it’s a big game, but we have a massive game at home to Dundee and that’s our only focus.’ “For us, it’s about us focusing on Celtic getting three points, playing the football, entertaining our supporters, because that’s ultimately what we can control.”The new faces who joined the club in the summer have slotted in seamlessly to the team when and where needed, and maintained that vital consistency needed to keep control of their destiny. But the Irishman also pinpointed the methodology of the players settling into the side. He said: “The consistency and the approach is what’s important. “You’ve seen at the early part of the season we had one game a week – you don’t have to change so much, you’re playing well, the intensity is there. “But in order to maintain that over the course of this busy period, then you have to make the changes as it won’t always look how you want it to look in the game. “You have to do it, for freshness, for injuries, which you can try and prevent as much as you can with all the markers now and all the signs that tell you where someone is at. “But also it’s about feeling, it’s about experience, and the feeling is that we want to have as much energy as we can in the approach that we have as a team in terms of the structure, that way of working, that’s what’s most important. “Because then players can come into it and be very clear on their role. “And that’s what I would hope that supporters and people can see – no matter what changes we make, our most important player is the team. “And the team is what will make you shine as an individual player.” Watch the video to also hear Brendan Rodgers on: Injury update Importance of the squad Luke McCowan and others settling in Celtic’s three centre-backs Players using a mind-set coach More on the game James Forrest is loving the squad game –