Brendan Rodgers says preparation is key for Kazakhstan trip
Brendan Rodgers admits preparation is key as Celtic get ready for a 9,000-mile round trip.
Celtic discovered their Champions League play-off opponents on Tuesday when Kairat Almaty beat Slovan Bratislava on penalties.
The Scottish champions will now head to Kazakhstan in the second leg of their play-off on August 26 with the opening encounter coming at Parkhead next Wednesday.
The trip will take them to a city which is further east than Indian capital New Delhi and only about 250 miles from the Chinese border.
Rodgers said: "If we're honest, I think everyone would have preferred the closer team and not so much journey.
"But listen, it is what it is. We've been there before and the first leg we want to make a real push to set a standard in that game on Wednesday and then we go there the following week to qualify. Such a huge game and when it comes, we'll be ready for it."
Rodgers hailed the club's "brilliant" operations team and stressed how important they were on his previous visit to Kazakhstan, when they played Astana at the same stage in 2017.
Celtic won the home leg 5-0 but saw their aggregate lead reduced to two before eventually winning the tie 8-4.
"I think that, operationally, we were very, very good," he said. "There's no stone unturned to make sure the preparation is right.
"So logistically, we'll do everything we possibly can to try and prepare for such a mammoth journey. So the preparation is key for that."
When asked if Celtic might have a new signing ahead of the first leg deadline to make changes to their Champions League squad, Rodgers said: "Hopefully, would be the answer to that. We have right up until, I believe it's the day before the game, to change our squad. So hopefully that can be the case."
Celtic first have the Premier Sports Cup to focus on and a familiar opponent in John McGlynn's Falkirk.
McGlynn worked in Rodgers' backroom staff during his first spell at Celtic Park and has led the Bairns to consecutive promotions.
"I'm so happy for him as a guy and his football," said Rodgers, whose team beat Falkirk 5-2 in the same competition last season.
"I think what John has demonstrated since he's gone back into management is that talent and technique will always override power.
"Unless you have the resources and the money to get power and technique and talent, then it's sometimes a difficult ask, and especially when you're trying to play football.
"I look at his teams at Raith and I look at what he's done here now at Falkirk and bringing them up and you see how they play and you see the attitude and the energy they have in the game and the technical qualities that they have in the game.
"We don't underestimate them. We'll be ready from the first whistle to be really aggressive in the game."
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