BRENDAN RODGERS fears lengthy lay-offs for hamstring victims Alistair Johnston and Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Celtic boss compared his side to a ‘Range Rover Sport’ as they beat Sturm Graz 2-1 – a nod to his weekend Honda Civic-Ferrari comments.
But Rodgers has worries ahead of Sunday’s Hearts clash after Johnston, Iheanacho and Cameron Carter-Vickers were all crocked.
He said: “It doesn’t look great for Ali and Kelechi. It looks like hamstring injuries.
“Cameron was struggling towards the end but we had used all our substitution windows, and couldn’t get him off.
“We will see how he is when he comes in on Friday morning.
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“If they are not available, you could see the level that the boys who came in played at.
“The injuries could have disrupted us but it was a brilliant performance.
“We weren’t quite a Ferrari but I’ll go for Range Rover Sport!
“But hopefully we have no more Morris Minor performances – and that is what I expect to see going forward.”
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Asked if his Dens Park words had fired the Celtic players up, Rodgers said: “These players know I’m with them but sometimes you have to be harsh to be clear.
“Then you hope you get that reaction.
“They know that I am thinking about them in every waking moment but for whatever reason, we haven’t been at their level.
“But as poor as we were at Dundee, it was the opposite against Sturm.
“The football was so good. The tempo, intensity and energy against a really good side was all there and was more like what we expect.
“From setbacks you need to show motivation and leadership.
“When you are under pressure, you can make progress and we were outstanding.
“I asked the players to be leaders and you could see that in the performance – collectively and individually.
“It was a really pleasing performance and I am so happy for Benjamin Nygren to score the winner as he had chances and showed courage to keep going.
“The support was also great and I sensed that at the start. You saw the power of Celtic and it was a great night.”
Tomi Horvat’s stunner put Sturm ahead in 15 minutes but Celtic wasted a series of chances.
The Hoops pressure finally told when Liam Scales found the bottom corner – before Nygren headed in the winner.
Sturm’s Tochi Chukwuani then saw red for a late challenge on Callum McGregor.
Celtic matchwinner Nygren missed a hat-trick of headers before finally nodding in from Arne Engels’ corner.
He said: “The result was so important because we have had a tough period.
“To lose two players early and go 1-0 down, we showed a good mentality and kept going.
“We created chances and then we got the win.
“Before my goal, I had opportunities I didn’t take but I always tried to stay involved in the game.
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“I got the goal in the end and I was very proud of the team’s performance.
“In football, one game can turn things around and this was a strong team display.”
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