Reo Hatate fired stark Celtic warning as Brendan Rodgers tells star he’ll bench him again if he doesn’t prove himself

Brendan Rodgers has sent out a stark warning to benched Reo Hatate.

The Celtic boss is getting tough on his stars – as exclusively revealed by Record Sport over Rodgers bombing out Alexandro Bernabei from the squad against Ross County last week. It’s understood the Irishman has made it clear he will not tolerate any lapse in professionalism or standards from his squad.

Rodgers has also thrown down the gauntlet to Japanese playmaker Hatate who looked unhappy after being left out of Celtic starting XI for the first game of the campaign to make way for two goal David Turnbull. Rodgers has now publicly challenged the 25-year-old – who was a key man in Ange Postecoglou’s Treble-winning side last season – to prove he deserves to keep his place under new management. Asked about the decision to drop Hatate at a time when the player appears to be stalling on a new Celtic deal, Rodgers said: “I’ve mentioned before, it’s not in my contract to play any player.

"He’s got three years left on his contract so there’s no rush. It’s a new cycle, a new manager and he has to prove himself. I’m not really worried about what’s said or not, I’ll play the team I see with the best energy, mentality and efficiency with how we want to work.

“There’s no doubt Reo is a talented player, but there’s other talented players in the squad. If players aren’t playing, I’ve been open and honest with them about where we’re at, how I prepare a team, when I tell them the team, and when they’re not playing how they’ve got to respond.

“Reo’s been really good in training. He didn’t play but he came into the game. He knows areas he needs to work on to play for me, and the structure of how I work. He’s responded really well in training and will absolutely be a