‘WELCOME TO THE FAST SHOW – CELTIC-STYLE’

BRENDAN RODGERS insists his Celtic players will not take their foot off the gas as they prepare to sizzle on the club’s new hybrid pitch.

The Hoops proved they were in a hurry in the 4-1 friendly win over a good Standard Liege team at Parkhead yesterday.

Rodgers’ men were rampant in the first-half and led 3-0 at the interval with goals from Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele and Callum McGregor. In an all-change outfit in the second-half, Mikey Johnston lobbed in a fourth before the Belgians claimed a consolation effort.

The Irishman said: “I thought our fluency, speed and crispness of our game were outstanding. In the first-half, our shape of the team caused lots of problems for them and then obviously the quality of our goals was exceptional, really.

“You come in with a good solid base at half-time, put out a younger team with some experience around it and again we were good. The defensive organisation in both halves was excellent and the football was exciting.

“Congratulations to club and the groundstaff as I’ve been crying about a pitch here for a long time. You saw the speed of it and it’ll get slightly quicker which is great for us.

“I was very pleased with both halves. We were playing against a good side, who just missed out on the Belgian league title last year and won their domestic Cup.”

Rodgers added: “It’s still very early stages of pre-season, but if I think back to my first game when I came in a few years ago to where we’re at now.

“You look at both teams – the organisation through the phases of the pitch, the pressing, the speed of it all, the quality – it makes it all exciting.

“We still have a way to go to continue our work, but it’s good to see.”