Q: Arne Engels is a young guy who has come here with a big price tag and the expectation as well. Was that a real coming of age performance for him?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think he’s been developing and growing right through the season. Like you say, coming in with everything around him. He’s really developed into the style of our game, understands the movement patterns and the physicality. You look at his data and everything over the course of this competition and that physicality which I’ve been really impressed with as a team.
“But for him in particular, he’s been very, very good for us. He was excellent but I think he’s been improving every week he’s been here. Just a shame for him, like I say, going back to Germany and not being able to get the result we got. We got a fantastic result but obviously over the course of the two legs we just didn’t quite manage it. But he’s been doing really well.”
Easter Road, photo The Celtic Star
Q: What do you expect from Hibs tomorrow?
Brendan Rodgers: “They’re obviously going to be high in confidence, I feel. They’ve picked up over the last few months really well. I’m delighted for David Gray. I think I mentioned the last time when I spoke that managers need time, especially young managers coming in. They need that time. But he’s turned it around really, really well. So they look like a team that’s got confidence, they’re very happy in the structure of how they play. They get the ball forward quickly, they get away, they get crosses in the box. So we know there’s going to be moments where we have to defend the game. But for us, we want the three points so we know we have to go and get them.”
Q: Any fresh knocks from the other night?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, everyone’s fine. James (Forrest) is back out on the pitch now the last three or four days. So he’s working away, but he’s obviously not near to coming back as of yet. But injury-wise, everyone’s OK.”
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