Brendan Rodgers comments on Marvin Compper’s Celtic debut

Follow us on Google Discover

Marvin Compper made his Celtic debut as Brendan Rodgers’ men booked their place in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

Brendan Rodgers has told Sky Sports’ live post-match coverage of Celtic’s Scottish Cup tie with Morton (broadcast on 3rd March 2018 from 12:30pm) that Marvin Compper did well after a nervy start when asked whether the January signing has done enough to be considered for selection for next weekend’s clash with Rangers.

Compper was the Hoops’ first signing of the January window but went into the cup tie with Morton still awaiting his debut having been injured for much of his time with the club so far.

However, Rodgers showed some faith in the 32-year-old by including him in the starting lineup against the Scottish Championship side. And while the 3-0 scoreline suggests that Celtic strolled their way into the last four, it was not the most convincing performance from the Bhoys before they showed their quality in the second-half.

And Rodgers suggested that, like Celtic, Compper grew into the game and hinted that he gave himself a chance of being involved against Rangers next weekend.

“We needed to get him onto the field. We’ve another week to go so we’ll have a good training week this week and look forward to that end,” he told Sky Sports after being asked whether he showed that he deserved to be in contention for next weekend’s Old Firm game.

“He had a nervy first pass, which wasn’t so good, but then grew himself into the game and looked reasonably comfortable.”

Rodgers will hope that Compper’s debut has allowed him to shake off some of the cobwebs given that he went into Saturday having only made three appearances all season for former club RB Leipzig.

Celtic’s defence has been a weakness lately, with Jozo Simunovic and Mikael Lustig coming in for particular criticism, so Rodgers having options to choose from is arguably a boost ahead of what looks set to be a tough trip to Ibrox.