'It Was So Good To See So Many People There For The Game Last Week'

BRENDAN Rodgers was thrilled to see Celtic supporters turn out in such fantastic numbers for last week’s dominant victory over Alashkert, and he’s stressed the importance of having a bumper home crowd roaring on the team in tonight’s (Wednesday) crunch UEFA Champions League meeting with Rosenborg.

The Hoops will welcome the Norwegian outfit for the first-leg of the second qualifying round tie, hoping to harvest a positive result to put them in pole position for the return match in Trondheim in seven days.

With so much at stake in contest that’s expected to be closely-fought, the manager told the View that a packed-out Paradise could give the Scottish champions a vital edge, and he’s appealed for fans to come along and back the Bhoys.

“That would be great, and it was so good to see so many people there for the game last week,” he said in an exclusive interview. “There was a great support at the game and the new lights brightened the whole thing up and made it a great spectacle.

“It would be great if we can get as many people there as we possibly can, as we need the help of the supporters at this stage – they’re priceless for us really – as that gives us the confidence going into the game, and we’ll look to get the performance and the result.”

Last season, the Celts were held by Rosenborg at home but they also kept a clean sheet, which was pivotal as James Forrest’s goal in the away leg proved decisive. And while the Irishman believes his charges can plunder goals and build an advantage, he knows maintaining defensive discipline is also imperative.

“It has been important for us over these last few seasons, in particular last season,” he said. “We played fairly well last year at home but just couldn’t make the breakthrough, but having the clean sheet was important as it gave us confidence going away. I believe we’ll score goals but, as a team, fundamentally, we want to be defensively strong. That will be the plan going into the game but also to bring our offensive threat to the match.