Kairat Almaty v Celtic – Brendan Rodgers and Liam Scales Media Conference

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The Celtic Star

·26 de agosto de 2025

Kairat Almaty v Celtic – Brendan Rodgers and Liam Scales Media Conference

Brendan Rodgers and Liam Scales spoke to the traveling Scottish media and local Kazakh press yesterday afternoon ahead of tonight’s Champions League playoff encounter between Kairat Almaty and Celtic…

The Hoops boss – who was joined in the presser alongside Celtic defender Liam Scales – touched upon preparations for this evening’s £40 million match, an injury update on Adam Idah and Auston Trusty, and the likelihood of incomings in the next few days.

You can read Brendan’s full quotes from the media conference below.

Vídeos OneFootball

Q: Squad-wise, how are you looking? Who has travelled, who hasn’t?

Brendan Rodgers: “Pretty much the same from the weekend. Adam [Idah] has travelled with us, he wasn’t available at the weekend. But other than that, pretty much the same. Auston [Trusty] obviously hasn’t made it, but in the main, the same squad as the weekend.”

Rafael Urazbakhtin, Head Coach of Kairat Almaty after the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: The Kairat manager this morning said that he felt that Celtic had underestimated Kairat last week. Is that the case?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, no, we always respect every opponent. We know that they were going to be a good side and hard to beat, and we didn’t quite play to our level, especially in the first half, but I think the advantage of two legs is that you get a chance to play against the opponent. We know they are really hard to beat, hard to break down. And it’s really up to us to impose our game. And I think having the first leg now really helps us because we know the players we’re up against. And yeah, we’ll look forward to that challenge. But certainly not, we never disrespect or underestimate any team.”

Q: In terms of the enormity of this tie, how aware are the players of what’s at stake? Do you need to explain that to them?

Brendan Rodgers. “No, no, I don’t need to explain it. I think we all, every player, every coach, manager, wants to work at the highest level of club football, and for us that is the Champions League. So I think for me it’s more based around not worrying about failing, and worrying about performance, because if you think so much of the consequence, then it can paralyse you, and that’s not something we want to do. We have to play our game, play the football that we’ve played in a lot of the league games this year, and if we can take that into the game, then we’ve got a fantastic chance of qualification.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: On the journey across here in the last few days, are you able to get a sense of the kind of mood that the players are in ahead of a game like this, with obviously so much at stake? Can you kind of gauge where the players are at?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think we’re all very relaxed but focused. I think we come off the back of a good win at the weekend. Some of the guys got game time. The travel, all the preparation has gone really well. So we’ll have a nice session this evening to make our final preparations, but no, we’re all focused on the game. But, like I say, if you overthink it, and I felt we probably maybe did that a little bit in the first half, where you overthink it, then you don’t play with the freedom. We know what’s at stake; it’s very clear, but the only way you get to where you want to get to is by playing how we want to.”

Adam Idah celebrates scoring at Ibrox to level the score at 1-1. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: With Adam, do you have a big decision to make there in terms of whether he’s fit enough and what he can bring to the team? It’s obviously a big call, I would imagine, for you?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah. I think one, just making sure fitness-wise, he’s okay. But I think availability is what you want as a coach or a manager, and that gives you gives you options within the game, whether it’s to start or change the game from within.”

Q: You obviously made some changes at the weekend, but did you see things there that you can use for this game that you maybe perhaps didn’t expect to be thinking about or is it that you have a plan beforehand? How do you approach it that way?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, I was really pleased with the guys at the weekend who had come in and played, and some of them had not played for a little while. I think some of the connections weren’t quite there, but that’s natural. You get players playing their first game, and some players coming into the system that are new to it. But in the main, I thought the level of performance was good. I spoke to David [Martindale] after the game, and he was actually surprised by how good we were, considering all the changes within the team. So, so yeah, I think the players that started that game did well, and some of them did well in the game. That’s what I would expect. So that gives us great options, then going into the game tomorrow night.”

Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay applaud during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: We also know there’s been a bit of noise around the last few weeks around the club. Is that hard to kind of insulate your players against that noise, because maybe it’s separate to what they’ve achieved and what they bring to the club, obviously. Have you had to work hard to kind of insulate the team from that kind of noise?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, not really. I think we’re all very focused on the football side. That’s all that we actually can control. I think in terms of the season so far, I think the players have done very, very well. I think we’ve played as well as we possibly could, apart from that first half last week. Controlled games and have defended very, very well, and in some of them have scored goals. Listen, we all know where we want the squad to be, but the value I have for the players that are here is very much there because they’ve they’ve done very well and started the season well. And of course, there’s noise around the outside and other things, but that doesn’t affect us and how we train, how we work and how we prepare.”

Q: Are the conditions a factor for you, with the long journey and the heat? How do you think about that as a manager?

Brendan Rodgers: “There’s no excuse for us, especially when you see how well Kairat worked last week. They had the same journey going the other way. So that won’t be an excuse for us. And I think, as I said, we all feel fine, we feel great, we’re on our own time zone and like I say, we’ll prepare and there’ll be no excuse.”

Q: Is that a mindset thing from the players’ point of view? Is that something that you can just make sure they don’t think about that?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, you have to. You have to. I think it’s something that is one of the things you can control. We can give lots of excuses. The heat, of course it is it is warm, it’ll be warm obviously on kick-off, but it won’t really wash with me. We have to perform, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Liam Scales of Celtic challenges for the ball with Ricardinho of Kairat Almaty during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: We spoke to Alistair Johnston last week, and the fact that there are so many guys in the squad who are used to long-haul journeys and playing off the back of them should actually help you guys. Does it make you more prepared than other clubs might be?

Brendan Rodgers: “We have a lot of international players. Guys like Liam [Scales] and others who are used to travelling. You spend a lot of your life travelling and being in hotels, preparing yourself physically and mentally. Our trip out here wasn’t so bad; our guys got the chance to bond together as well. It will be nice to gon to the grass this evening just to have a light session and just get moving again. By the time tomorrow comes, we’ll be ready for that. I’m excited to see us play tomorrow in a pressure game, knowing that we have to win. That’s what you want.”

Brendan Rodgers after the Premier League match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Brendan, it’s a huge week with the Champions League, then theRangers game at the weekend. Is there no difficulty at all in isolating those two matches?

Brendan Rodgers: “None whatsoever. Like Livingston at the weekend, we were really focused on that and getting a team out that was ready and prepared. We came through that, and our focus is very much on here. We all know what’s at stake, but we have to play and perform well. That’s the focus, and whatever happens in the game tomorrow night, we then get back and we know the magnitude of that game. There’s no loss of focus, no.”

Q: I know 200-300 Celtic fans have made their way here. It’s not an easy place to get to, and it’s quite an expensive place as well. I’m sure you want to put on a show for those travelling fans?

Brendan Rodgers: “We want to make the journey worthwhile for them, because it’s a long way to come and see the team. We want to reward them with that victory that will send them home happy and everyone else back home happy.”

Celtic 0-0 Kairat Almaty. Celtic’s Champions League hopes hang very much in the balance after they were held to a goalless draw in Glasgow by Kazakh side Kairat. Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO / News Licensing

Q: Liam [Scales], how much determination is in this squad to actually make it through once again to the Champions League proper?

Liam Scales: “Yeah, obviously, it’s where we want to be as players. You know, you want to be playing at the highest level, and a lot of us have experienced that in the last couple of years, and that’s where we want to be. So we know what’s at stake, and, yeah, it’s huge for us. We’re fully focused on.”

Q: Was there anything that surprised yourself last week about Kairat and the pace at which they played?

Liam Scales: “Every team at this level is going to be good. They’ve got through a few rounds coming up to that game by being robust, defending well and being hard to beat. So we knew what was expected. It’s just we sort of didn’t start the game the way we would have liked to. So, I think that was it.”

Q: There’s obviously been some talk about players recently coming in late in the week. Has progress been made that you can tell us at the moment?

Brendan Rodgers: “There might be! I think by the time we get back, hopefully we’ll be close to one or two things.”

Q: Hello, Mr. Rodgers. First of all, welcome to Kazakhstan. Dastan Satpayev, the main attacker of Kairat, is going to miss tomorrow’s game – he was booked in the last minute of the match in Glasgow. Do you think that’s going to affect how Kairat will play tomorrow?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I think he’s a fantastic young player. I was in contact with the guy at Chelsea who came out here to see him play and see him work. So yeah, so we know we know how good a young player he is. But for us, I think the strength of Kairat is the team. They all work very, very hard, a very honest team, and obviously, they have quality players within that. So for us, really, we respect their strengths, but for tomorrow we have to focus on our own and make sure that we bring our game, and then hopefully we can get the result that we want.”

Almaty Central Stadium. Capacity 23,804. Almaty, Kazakhstan

Q: Everyone talks about the kind of money that’s at stake with these games. But from your point of view as a manager, is it about the prestige of getting to the Champions League? Is that far and ahead of anything else in terms of finances?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That’s a consequence. I think first and foremost, as a football manager and for the players, we want to be challenged and operate at the highest level. Everything else is a consequence of that. So, yes, the money really doesn’t come into it. Of course, it helps in lots of ways at the club. But you can only get that if you perform on the field. And that’s what our job is.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is seen during the pre-season friendly match between Celtic and Newcastle United at Celtic Park on July 19, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Kairat and Celtic have some different physical conditions because the season in the Scottish Premiership has just started, while in Kazakhstan, the season is nearing its end. Was this a problem, this difference in physical condition in the first game? Could it be a problem tomorrow?

Brendan Rodgers: “We’ve had experience with this before, where we’ve played teams that are midway or near the end of their seasons, and we’ve still won those games. Of course, it will help and can be of benefit to Kairat; they’re in a good physical condition. We’re at a stage now where our fitness is at a good level, and that’s what we bank on going into these games. Also, these games are about your mind and using your brain, as well as your physicality. I expect our players to come in and perform really well tomorrow.”

Q: Did you have a feeling of deja vu when you found out about the long trip to Kazakhstan? Do you think football in the country has become even better since your last visit?

Brendan Rodgers: “We knew we would have a long journey to travel here. I think that is the beauty of football, as it gives you an opportunity to travel the world. The size five football is a ball of air, but it takes you around the world to some beautiful places. Kairat here feels like a great city, with two million people, so it is very vibrant and exciting. The team [Kairat] is a good team. When I was here the last time with Astana, they were also a good team. Respectfully, I don’t follow the football here as much, but when I study teams, I look into the background, and I know that Kairat are a good team. This is why they’ve got to this stage of the competition. For us, we have to play a really good game tomorrow to qualify.”

Q: Previously, you played in Astana Arena, which is a plastic pitch, artificial grass. But tomorrow you are going to play on natural grass. Do you think that will kind of level the conditions for both teams because you’re going to play at the same pitch that you probably usually play in your league, which is natural grass?

Brendan Rodgers: “In our league, we have three artificial pitches as well. We are going to train on the field a little bit later. But it will be the same for both teams. That’s what’s most important. And we have to make the best use of the facilities and the pitch as we possibly can. As I said earlier, whether it’s the sun or the pitch, we have no excuses. We’re here to qualify, and that’s what our focus is.”

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