Brendan Rodgers tells Celtic kids they won't miss their shot if they prove one thing to him

At Liverpool he gave Raheem Sterling the platform to become a superstar. Before that at Reading, he unearthed Icelandic gem Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Even in his last job at Leicester City, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Luke Thomas wouldn’t have won an FA Cup if it wasn’t for the faith he showed in them. Brendan Rodgers has given youth a chance everywhere he has been. And he’d love to do the same at Celtic. But only if the youngsters are good enough – off the pitch as well as on it.

The Parkhead gaffer is missing several key players through injury right now including Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada. That means the club will probably have to open the cheque book in January as they bid to retain the Premiership title. The potential loss of Hatate and Maeda – as well as strike pair Kyogo Furuhashi and Oh Hyeon-gyu – to the Asian Cup in the new year presents more headaches. And Rodgers WILL look to their Lennoxtown academy for replacements.

But whether any of the kids will be good enough to make the step up is another matter. Even Celtic and Rangers lose their top talent to the Premier League these days before they’ve made a mark in Glasgow.

And the other issue for Rodgers with Celtic’s kids is if they’ve got the mentality to reach the top. In his first spell as manager he gave the likes of Anthony Ralston and Mikey Johnston their debuts. Both are still squad players at Celtic Park.

As he looked ahead to a bit of rejigging in January, the manager insisted that if there’s quality in the youth ranks he’ll find it. He said: “It’s always a challenge at a big club like this to bring young players through and pitch them in, especially at Champions League level.

“But if you track my career, through all my clubs as a manager, I’ve