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Brendan Rodgers’ rival lauds Celtic as a ‘top elite XI’ with ‘fantastic individuals’ ahead of Hibs clash

By Alistair Gordon

Copyright glasgowworld

Brendan Rodgers' rival lauds Celtic as a 'top elite XI' with 'fantastic individuals' ahead of Hibs clash

David Gray is chasing Hibs’ first away win against Celtic for the first time in 15 years. After their solid display in Belgrade, it’s normal service resumed for Celtic as Brendan Rodgers prepares to take on Hibs at home on Saturday afternoon. Kelechi Iheanacho once again impressed from the bench and scored the opener against Red Star, however this was shortly cancelled out by Marko Arnautovic. A draw was probably a fair result in the end in what could be a valuable away point for Rodgers’ men. The Celtic boss will now just be hoping there’s no European hangover for his team. Celtic’s weekend opponents are also unbeaten domestically so far this season, however Hibs haven’t registered a win since the opening day. Hibees fans thought they were back on track on Tuesday night when they were 2-0 up against Falkirk in the first half, however the sides ended up sharing the points. While the Hibees have a good record against Brendan Rodgers’ Celts at Easter Road, The Hoops very seldom lose to them at Parkhead. As David Gray prepares to take his team across the M8, he was full of praise for Celtic in his recent press conference. Gray said: “they’ve (Celtic) got a fantastic team. They’ve got fantastic individuals. They’ve brought new players in, probably later on in the window than they would’ve wanted. “So Brendan might be talking from a point of view of not having all pre-season to work with new players, which is what every manager wants. The club will be the same, everybody wants to do their business on day one, to get your squad as early as you can but it doesn’t always work like that. “So people can talk about these things, all I can concentrate on is my game plan going to Celtic Park. Regardless of what XI Brendan decides to put out, it will be a top, top elite XI and bench behind it, so again, for us to get the result we’re looking for, it will take a complete performance.” “It’s a very long season and we still need to remember we’re undefeated in the league although it could be a lot better. There’s certainly no negativity within the training ground and on the training pitch every single day and that’s the most important thing for me. “The noise will be the noise, it’s always there and that comes with the expectation of the club, it comes with the narrative that gets spun every now and again and how quickly it can change and if you go and recreate history or change the history tomorrow and be the first team in 15 years to go and win at Celtic Park. “And then if it’s not the result you get, we’ve got a derby to look forward to after that as well and that changes. So every game it’s so important how quickly it can change.” Your next Celtic read: Celtic to battle Chelsea & Atletico Madrid for MLS talent who made senior international debut at 16