BRENDAN Rodgers has admitted he would like Celtic to repay their fans for the backing they receive in Europe with an away victory this season – but insisted the Parkhead club can go through to the knockout phase if they win all of their home games.
Rodgers was devastated when the Scottish champions crashed to a 7-1 loss at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in their second Champions League league phase match in the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday night.
He felt for the thousands of travelling supporters in the crowd and is now determined for his men to give them a performance and a result to cheer on the road in their meetings with Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa.
However, the Northern Irishman, whose men face RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Young Boys at Parkhead in the coming weeks, feels Celtic can finish in the top 24 and progress if they take maximum points at home.
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“I don't think you have to (win away in the Champions League),” he said. “But we would want to. We would want to have results away from home.
“I'm very conscious that supporters are getting out of work and travelling thousands of miles in every which way they can to get there to support the team, to give the incredible support that we have.
“So I'm not just going to dismiss that we don't need it. We actually want to get the results for the team and for the support base that are travelling and making all this commitment to go and see their team.
“We go into every game with a positive expectation to do well. But winning away from home, getting results, everyone wants to do that.”
Meanwhile, Rodgers has expressed confidence that Celtic can bounce back from the Dortmund reverse against Ross County in Dingwall tomorrow and maintain their winning start to the William Hill Premiership if they show the same fight as they did in the second half in Germany.
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“Setbacks are there to grow from,” he said. “You can dwell on it and become bitter with it, but it's not something that I like to do. We have to be resilient when it's tough, that's our job.
“But that's where I commend the players, because in the second half, they played with courage, they played with passion, they kept fighting, they showed the spirit, they showed the resilience.
“We were disappointed, naturally. But we will pick ourselves up and show that resilience again. We'll have a great support up there and we aim to get back on track with a high performance level and a good victory. but we know up there it's always tough.”
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