Brendan Rodgers urges Celtic to keep catching opposition cold with strong start

Brendan Rodgers has challenged his Celtic side to keep trying to catch their opponents cold with a high-tempo start to matches.

In each of their opening three competitive matches so far – all of which have ended in victory – the Hoops have scored twice in the first half.

Rodgers wants his in-form team to continue trying to blow teams off course with an early goal.

“I think it’s the mark of a really good team that you start quick and finish strong,” the manager told Celtic TV.

“That’s our mindset, we’re not wanting to wait for anyone to see how the game unfolds, we want to impose our style and tempo on the game.

“In modern football, opposition teams will know a lot about us because they have all the data about us but the one thing you cannot prepare for as an opposition player is the tempo that the other team play at.

“You can’t gauge that until you’re there and that’s something that’s very important for any of my teams.

“We see it now with this team that the tempo and the level is at a very high level and we want to sustain that for as long as we can in the game.”

Celtic’s bright start to the campaign comes on the back of an encouraging pre-season in which they defeated Premier League pair Chelsea and Manchester City.

“I think it comes from the mentality and the preparation work we’ve done all the way through pre-season,” said Rodgers. “From the first day back in, the mentality was really positive.

“Players and coaches have been working very hard on the training field and the management of that has meant that we’ve arrived into the season really synchronised and collectively really strong and we’ve been able to continue with that.

“It’s been really good from the first day of pre-season.”

Rodgers is hoping his side can maintain their flawless start to the campaign when they visit Stephen Robinson’s St Mirren in the Premiership on Sunday.

“Stephen’s an outstanding coach and manager, he’s done a very good job at St Mirren, like he did at Motherwell,” said Rodgers.

“He’s taken them to a few rounds in European football, which is a big achievement, so we’ll be preparing for a tough game against a well-organised, well-coached side.”