Brendan Rodgers claims Celtic stars will be victims of new stoppage time rules as 'bigger clubs' at unique risk

Skeptical Brendan Rodgers has questioned the logic behind foisting more energy sapping minutes of added time on the top flight.

And the Celtic boss has expressed fears more time will mount up to bigger injury jeopardy for players who are already exposed to the risk of fatigue. Officials have been instructed to pile on more time at the end of halves this season to bring the domestic game into line with marathon matches witnessed at the World Cup in Qatar last year.

While the authorities hope the new edict will clamp down on time wasting, Rodgers suspects it could lead to even greater congestion inside the treatment room of his Lennoxtown HQ. He said: “Naturally if you’re one of the so-called bigger clubs, it’s a worry because of the number of games. You think about someone like Callum McGregor who’s playing 60 to 70 games per season and then adding eight to 10 minutes on to the end of every one of them.

“So it’s that accumulation over the course of a season. When you’re trying to take some minutes off these players, you’re actually going to be putting more minutes into them. It’s crazy, the top-level players what they’re having to play when there should be games taken away from them.

“So I’m not overly in favour of it. If there are a few extra minutes to be played when there’s been a bad injury, then fine. But I don’t think the clock should be stopped for celebrating goals, for example.”