Brendan Rodgers takes positives from Celtic’s friendly defeat in Portugal

Brendan Rodgers described Celtic’s 3-2 friendly defeat by Estrela da Amadora as “another step towards where we want to get to”.

Defender Kieran Tierney made his first appearance for the Hoops since his return to the club from Arsenal this summer at Benfica’s training campus in Portugal, whilst Sweden winger Benjamin Nygren also got his first minutes as a Celtic player since signing from Nordsjaelland, playing the second half.

Midfielder Reo Hatate and striker Adam Idah scored the goals for the Scottish champions but looking at the bigger picture, boss Rodgers told Celtic TV: “It was a really good exercise for us.

“We’re only a couple of weeks in and there were some good moments, some not so good, some young players getting opportunities, some players playing their first minutes of pre-season. It’s another step towards where we want to get to.

“We’ll get sharper. The guys have had a really heavy week, so they were maybe a wee bit leggy today.

“But it’s that point in the season where you have to push and get through that, that’s all about building your fitness.

“The guys will always look to play our game model, which is to press and to play and we did that.

“We had some really good moments, the goals were excellent. And then we got caught out, especially in the third goal, just pressing at the wrong moment.

“But all that comes with the evolution and understanding of how we play.”