Rodgers Game Changer Ahead of Cup Final

After a European game, Celtic usually head straight back for the airport after a warm down and onto the flight to get home.

However, Brendan Rodgers is very aware of the pitfalls involved with late night travel on an athlete’s body and mental fatigue.

With such a big game coming up this Sunday when Celtic will contest the Bet Fred League Cup Final with Aberdeen the manager broke from the usual routine.

Instead of heading home from Norway after their 1-0 victory against Rosenborg, the manager opted to have the squad stay another night to be as fresh as possible for Sunday.

The bhoys had somewhat of a lie-in on Friday before heading back to Glasgow to prepare for the cup final.

After such a big result there is no time to reflect for the club as they move onto the next challenge.

Speaking about why Celtic changed it up this time, Rodgers was adamant it was for the good of his players.

“One of the key things is sleep when you are recovering. If we had gone back on Thursday night it would have been the early hours of Friday and the players would have had to travel back to their homes.” Rodgers told SunSport.

“They might not have got back until about 3am.

“Then that means you get them in that little bit later on the Friday and there is a tiredness to their work the next day.

“It’s not quite the same, but this way we have been able to travel home nice and relaxed.

“The players had a lie-in on Friday and then met to do some work in the pool or the gym.”

Let’s hope it has the desired effect come Sunday!