Brendan Rodgers insists consistency is key to Celtic's Champions League progress

Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic have shown in moments this season that they can match Europe’s elite but need consistency to progress at the top level.

Rodgers is preparing his side for their final group stage game against Feyenoord at Celtic Park on Wednesday, with the Scottish champions already guaranteed to finish bottom of the section and end their European campaign.

A difficult group, with Atletico Madrid and Lazio having already sealed progress to the knockout stages, has seen Celtic pick up only one point from five games, despite being close to bigger results against Lazio in particular.

Celtic have now gone 15 games without a win in the Champions League group stage, a streak that stretches back to Rodgers’ first time in charge, and players, fans and staff are all hoping to end that run on Wednesday.

But asked whether taking three points would have a psychological effect that would stretch into next season, the manager was wary of looking too far ahead, preferring to take the lessons from this campaign first.

“It’s still such a long way to go,” he said. “And probably, come this time next year, the squad may look a lot different again.

“We can only focus on the present and for us it’s performing to the level we know we can consistently.

“We have done that in spells over the course of this competition and played some really high-level football and showed in those moments that we belong at the level. But you have to do that consistently.”

Rodgers says he is “absolutely” the man to deliver that consistency and says it because he wants to take on that task that he is in the manager’s seat.

“It’s the very reason I came back,” he said. “I came back here to lead the club, domestically, to what I hope is continued success, and also into Europe where we all want to break this barrier, bridge this gap, which is a really tough challenge but it’s what I’ve always done in my career. I’ve picked the challenge to come here and hopefully take us forward.

“That’s going to be us all, the supporters, the board, the players, the club and myself all together. Getting the right players in that can improve and develop our squad and I have every confidence that we can do that over the coming seasons.”