Brendan Rodgers Explains Half-time Greg Taylor Substitution

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has explained his decision to withdraw Greg Taylor at the midway point of tonight’s match against St. Johnstone.

The Hoops eventually cruised to a dominant 6-0 victory in Perth, with the left-back coming off at half-time.

Although he was outstanding in the opening 45 and played a sublime cross into the box to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for his second of the evening, Taylor was hooked by boss Rodgers at the break.

He was duly replaced by Barcelona loanee Alex Valle, who did himself no harm with an impressive second-half performance.

The Spaniard looked an attacking threat on the left-hand side and set up Adam Idah, who finished off a spectacular team move to give the Celts a 6-0 lead.

There were question marks over the decision to replace Taylor going into the second 45, but gaffer Rodgers has since provided some clarity.

Speaking after the match, the Irishman explained that Taylor felt a slight niggle and, with Celtic 3-0 up, there was no point in taking any risks.

“We had Greg just felt a tightness in his calf in the first 15 minutes”, said the boss (The Celtic Way).

“So just precautionary, we take him off and put Alex in. And yeah, we hope that he should be fine. And obviously, it just allowed us to manage some of the other players as well.”

Away at Dortmund, Rodgers will ideally want his first-choice starting 11 available.

Taylor has been particularly key at the start of the new season, but young Valle proved himself to be a dependable option this evening.