Brendan Rodgers lays out Celtic transfer timeline for 'one or two' signings as he reveals how stars will spend winter break

It's been a testing first few months back in the job for Brendan Rodgers.

He was smart enough to know before he even signed on the dotted line that he faced a fight just to win over hearts and minds of those fans who never forgave him for leaving them for Leicester City in the first place. That task became a little bit stiffer when Celtic lost their grip on the first silverware of the season with the early season League Cup defeat at Kilmarnock which cancelled any chance of retaining Big Ange’s treble.

And the sight of bitter rivals Rangers celebrating lifting that very trophy at Hampden last month - at a moment in time when Rodgers was struggling to maintain a lead at the top of the Premiership table - ramped up the pressure to just around boiling point. So when some of the steam came off after Saturday’s Old Firm victory, it’s little wonder if the 50-year-old heaved out a huge sigh of relief. He’s not out of the woods yet of course. Celtic’s eight point lead will look a lot less emphatic if Rangers should win their two games in hand. But, for the time being at least, a potentially critical situation has been stabilised. A win over St Mirren will further reduce the stress levels and allow Rodgers to go into the winter break perhaps wondering what all the fuss was about.

“We’re absolutely fine,” Rodgers said when asked if rumours of Celtic’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated. He went on: “Sadly it’s the noise that follows a Celtic or a Rangers team. But I’m experienced enough to tune out of the noise. I can focus on the progress of the team and I can see players developing and I can see players improving. I can see where we can get better too.

“I have picked up this squad at a different time to when I picked up