Brendan Rodgers reacts to Celtic fans’ Dedryck Boyata protests

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Dedryck Boyata faced plenty of criticism from the Celtic supporters ahead of their Scottish Premiership victory on Sunday.

In comments reported by the Daily Record, Brendan Rodgers has suggested that he would have preferred the Celtic fans not to hold protests against Dedryck Boyata ahead of the Hoops’ clash with Hamilton at Parkhead on Sunday, but the Bhoys boss insisted that he will not criticise the fans for venting their frustrations.

In the buildup to the game with Accies, much of the talk surrounding the champions centred on Boyata’s future with various reports linking him with a potential move away. His involvement in the squad, or lack of to be precise, during the previous weeks had certainly fuelled the fire regarding the speculation.

The Belgian was set to make his first appearance of the campaign in Sunday’s clash, and that prompted a number of fans to voice their frustration at the way that Boyata has apparently handled himself during this saga, with one banner claiming that the former Manchester City ace was not fit to wear the shirt.

Remarkably, it was Boyata who decided the game, scoring Celtic’s only goal shortly after the hour mark to help move Rodgers’ men up to second in the table after three games.

And after the contest, Rodgers commented on the fans’ protests towards the defender, but stopped short of suggesting that he was particularly angry with their stance ahead of the fixture.

“Obviously I’d have preferred a different reaction but I’m not going to criticise the supporters,” he said, as reported by the Daily Record. “But it’s an emotional game, football. It wouldn’t have been easy for him and it certainly wouldn’t have helped us.

“But the supporters live for the club and they made their feelings known. Then we just had to show we were together as a team.

It will certainly be a lot easier for Celtic to get back fully on track once the transfer window closes and they can largely forget about any speculation for a while. But it is undoubtedly a warning to all of Celtic’s rivals that the Hoops are continuing to pick up points while they apparently have plenty of issues to contend with.