THERE weren’t too many plus factors for Brendan Rodgers after Celtic’s miserable 3-2 derby loss at Parkhead yesterday.
Amid the wreckage of a second consecutive defeat to the Ibrox side, there was one redeeming feature for the Hoops boss – the performance of forgotten man Maik Nawrocki.
With Auston Trusty and Liam Scales both out through injury, Rodgers was forced to give the £4.25million recruit from Legia Warsaw in the summer of 2023 his first start of the campaign.
Incredibly, the towering central defender had played a mere TWENTY-THREE MINUTES of first-team football before being pitched in against Barry Ferguson’s side.
AIR RAID…Maik Nawrocki gets in between John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande to thump in a header that was pushed away by Jack Butland.
The German-born former Poland Under-21 international answered the SOS and was one of the champions’ most accomplished performers in an overall disappointing display where captain-for-the-day Cameron Carter-Vickers inexplicably missed a simple header that led to the visitors’ late winning goal.
Nawrocki had earlier cleared a Vaclav Cerny shot away from danger after an unlikely blunder from Kasper Schmeichel following a slack pass out of defence.
Reflecting on the showing of the comeback Bhoy, Rodgers observed: “I thought he did really well. I said that to him afterwards in the changing room.
“There weren’t too many highlights for us. But certainly for him, for a guy who has not played virtually for a year, it shows you how well he’s trained and how professional he’s been.
“So, I thought he did really, really well to last the game.”
AT THE READY…Maik Nawrocki and team-mates Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jeffrey Schlupp keep an eye on Rangers rivals at a corner-kick.
Not so pleasing was the unacceptable display of the team and the Hoops gaffer, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “If it’s a one-point gap or 16 or whatever it is, there’s no excuse.
“We didn’t defend well enough. We weren’t sharp enough mentally in the game, with and without the ball. And if you don’t, then a good team can punish you.
“We had a much better second-half. We got the goal and it felt like a matter of time. But you shouldn’t then lose the game from that position.”
The champions have conceded NINE goals in three games to their city rivals and Rodgers added: “Yeah, that’s something to think about, for sure.
“I mentioned that afterwards. You need to be better. You need to be defensively much better, much more secure.
“But I think also part of that comes from the ball, giving the ball away and not dominating it like we do. “You hand a little bit of an onus to the opposition. But, ultimately, the three goals were disappointing.”
