Auston Trusty showed Brendan Rodgers exactly why he brought him to Celtic as he reveals 'big admiration'

Bullish Brendan Rodgers has urged Arne Engels’ critics not to judge the Celtic ace by his £11million price tag.

The Belgium midfielder was among the Parkhead side’s brave Bergamo battlers that dug in to earn the Hoops a vital Champions League point with Wednesday’s goalless draw away to Atalanta. But that hasn’t been enough to please everyone and some fans have taken to social media to aim pops at his failure to do more on the ball in recent weeks.

The initial reaction to his big money move from German outfit Augsburg saw the 21-year-old lavished with praise - but those have quickly cooled following underwhelming displays against Borussia Dortmund, Aberdeen and Gian Piero Gasperini’s Europa League winners. Rodgers, though, fully expects to see Celtic get their money’s worth in the months to come. It doesn't surprise me, no,” said the Northern Irishman as he was quizzed on the online flak.

“But it's it doesn't really matter either. There's critics in the game and people have an opinion, so you have to respect that.

“For me, we brought in a young player who's nowhere near the finished article. Sometimes when there's a price around him, some might feel that you're buying someone who's the finished article - he’s not.

“He came in here as a 20-year-old player who's got great potential and it's my job, along with the staff, to develop that. I said to him, ‘You're coming from playing one game a week - that's a holiday in my book - to play for a big club with big pressure and big expectation and and you'll feel it.

“And sometimes you'll be playing a lot of games and sometimes you come out to recover, so it's all natural. We had the same with Nicholas Kuhn, we've had probably the same with Callum McGregor over many years.

“Listen