Brendan Rodgers admits Celtic “know exactly what we want to do” in the remaining weeks of the January transfer window after his side progressed to the Scottish Cup last-16 with a slender 2-1 victory over fellow top-flight side Kilmarnock.
The Hoops have been heavily linked with a number of players so far this month, including a potential return for fan favourite Kieran Tierney from Arsenal. A seven-figure bid is also being prepared for Aston Villa starlet Louie Barry and £8.5 million-rated Spanish winger Raul Moro is also being considered as a signing target.
So far, the Premiership leaders have only sent a handful of fringe players and B-team stars out on loan to gain more first-team experience, namely Odin Thiago Holm to MLS side Los Angeles FC and Stephen Welsh to Belgian Pro League outfit KV Mechelen.
Speaking on Premier Sports when asked about the possibility of new additions over the next fortnight, Rodgers said: “We know exactly what we want to do. Up to this point the players have been very, very good but we know what we need and what we want.”
Holders Celtic were given a fourth round scare by Killie when Callum McGregor’s 12th minute opener was cancelled out by Bobby Wales’ strike just before half-time at Parkhead. But winger Daizen Maeda exploited space in behind the visitors defence to fire home with match-winner to rubber-stamp their place in Monday’s draw.
Dissecting the result and his side’s performance, Rodgers conceded it could have been more comfortable had they taken a barrel load of chances. He added: “It feels very good. Obviously it was a game that should have been a lot more comfortable than the scoreline. We had so many really good chances. I’m not sure what xG is, I’m not really into that side of the game, but for that, I would be interest to know what ours was.
”Big credit to the players. They dominated the first-half and had so many chances. Then we concede from a defensive throw-in. You then need to react and we did that in the second half. We kept fighting, working and created more chances. But listen, the objective is to get through and we did that. We take that and are in the hat for the next round.”
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