Brendan Rodgers makes Sligo Rovers Europe claim after Celtic earn narrow friendly win
League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers are still in the hunt for European football next year.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers praised Sligo Rovers after his Celtic side needed two goals in the 90th minute to record a 3-2 friendly win over the League of Ireland side on Wednesday.
The Bhoys were trailing 2-1 heading into the closing moments, with Kailin Barlow and Simon Power striking early in the first half to cancel out Luis Palma’s opener.
However, Palma levelled the game in the 90th minute and scored the winner two minutes into stoppage time to spare the Scottish champions’ blushes.
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Afterwards, Rodgers commented on Rovers’ chase for European football next season. With four games remaining, they are sixth in the table, but are just three points off third place.
A fourth placed finish would also secure a Europa Conference League spot next year if Derry City beat Drogheda United in the FAI Cup final.
Rodgers said: “It was a really good exercise for us, and a lot of our senior players got 90 minutes in, which was great.
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“The second half was much better than the first. It was a better tempo and better rhythm, there was more speed in our game. So, we were very good in the second half.
'It’s excellent for us to be able to come out to Ireland. You see with Sligo, it was a great little test for us in how they played and worked.
“You can see why Sligo are a top-six team in the League of Ireland. They’ll be fighting for European football, and are at a good level of fitness.”
Sligo are in a battle with St Patrick’s Athletic, Galway United, Derry City and Shamrock Rovers for a top-three finish, while mathematically they could still overhaul leaders Shelbourne.
Rodgers added: “They passed the ball well, and with confidence. They moved it well. So, that was a real good test, especially for some of our boys who haven’t played for a little bit of time.
“But as the game went on, we were just a bit more aggressive in the game. We pushed into higher starting positions and that allowed us to attack a lot more. You seen that a lot in the second half.”
Rodgers was able to give game-time at the Showgrounds to players who weren’t away on international duty.
Next up for the Bhoys is a game against Aberdeen on Saturday October 19 and the Celtic boss said: “We’ve got a little bit of rest now. But obviously we are planning ahead for that really exciting game against Aberdeen.
“We are looking forward to that. We’ve got a couple of days to recover now, it’s been a long period of games with seven in 23 days.
“So we’ve got a little bit of recovery time, and then we will look forward to getting everyone back in and preparing for the Aberdeen game.”
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