Brendan Rodgers hopes spending Christmas at home can help Celtic give their fans plenty of comfort and joy. Incredibly Thursday’s clash with Motherwell will be the first time the Hoops have had a Boxing Day fixture at Parkhead since 2010.
Eight times since then they’ve been on their travels before most of us have polished off the last of the turkey. But after sending his players back to their families after a light training session yesterday morning, Rodgers is hopeful the extra time spent with their loved ones can help unwrap three crucial points against Motherwell. A victory is imperative after two points were dropped in Sunday’s goalless draw at Dundee United. And the Hoops boss knows there’s no room for more slip-ups with Rangers closing the gap at the top to nine points and the next Old Firm at Ibrox just a week away.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, Austin Trusty and Alistair Johnston are expected to return after missing the trip to Tannadice with the flu but Nicolas Kuhn remains a doubt.
And Rodgers said: “It’s been a long time since Celtic played at home on Boxing Day and that’s great for the support and the players. It’s also good for the families as we tend to be travelling away to a hotel on Christmas Day and that wasn’t the case this year. We still trained in the morning but the players were able to go home after that.
“I am really looking forward to being at home on Boxing Day. It’s a great place for us to play and we want to send the supporters home happy. It will be a similar game to United on Sunday.
“Motherwell will be tight, they will stay compact and it’s up to us to go and break them down. That’s the area we need to improve on from Sunday. It’s a busy period in the football calendar and we have to recover quickly between games now.
“Cameron and Austin should be back. They did some work on the bike on Sunday and all being well they should be available. We have so many games and we will need everyone available.”
With doubts over Kuhn, who is nursing a knee injury, Rodgers could turn to Luis Palma or Hyunjun Yang who was handed a rare start against United. The duo have both been fringe players due to the form of Kuhn and Daizen Maeda.
But Rodgers said: “You need to come in and hit the ground running. They have been out the picture for a long time but they train to a level and they come in and do their best.
“They work every day to allow them to be physically good and then you are just looking for that bit of magic from one of them that can unlock a defence. Luis had a really good shot on Sunday and I thought it was going into the corner until the centre half got a block on it. But that’s the possibility for these guys. We have so many games and we will need everyone.”
One player looking forward to tucking into his Christmas dinner more than most yesterday was Paulo Bernardo. The Portuguese midfielder had mum Annabela, dad Paulo snr and sister Anna over from his homeland with the trio set to take in a game at Parkhead before returning home for the new year.
Those home from home comforts last year helped the 22-year-old turn up his form over the festive period, a spell that saw him net a cracker in the new year derby victory over Rangers at Parkhead after netting in the Boxing Day trip to Dundee. And he said: “That was good. I enjoyed that. It was a really good moment. Repeat it at Ibrox? Yeah, every game I want to score goals.
“My family are over. I will spend time with them. They are coming to one game, I think. It’s nice. For me a Scottish Christmas is just the same as a Portuguese one, I will spend time with my family and have a nice dinner. Do I cook? Nah! Maybe a glass of wine, I’m not a fan but maybe just one.”
Bernardo has been in and out the Hoops line-up as Rodgers utilises his squad but could return to the starting XI against Motherwell. Along with £11m man Arne Engels he climbed off the bench on Sunday but couldn’t find the piece of magic to unlock the Dundee United defence.
Despite the minor setback Bernardo knows times are good at Parkhead – but that Rodgers’ troops can’t afford to take their foot off the pedal. He said: “We are nine points away from second place so it’s a very good position. We are happy with the position but we have to continue winning.
“The schedule is tough. We have a lot of games now coming up. We need to be prepared for that. Every player prefers games to training. But training is so important. Without it we are not prepared.
“We are playing like this because of our hard work during the season, not just in games. We have a busy schedule full of games so we prepare for Motherwell at home, and we want to win.”