Injuries and drop in performance inevitable in tough schedule - Brendan Rodgers
Celtic and other teams have been given a heavy festive fixtures list
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers feels injuries and a drop in entertainment levels are inevitable amid a heavier-than-ever schedule.
Rodgers has lost Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda to muscle injuries ahead of the encounter with Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday, which will be Celtic's fourth game in 10 days. They then face Dundee on Tuesday night.
The William Hill Premiership has lost its winter break following the expansion of the Champions League and Europa League and Rodgers knows there are no easy solutions.
But he is concerned about the impact of playing so many games, during a spell when his squad used to get a break.
"When I used to be up here, we knew that December was going to be a hard schedule, getting through all of that," he said.
"Then you had your New Year's game and only then you'd have a couple of weeks to reset, refresh and then go again for the second part of the season.
"To then actually have even more games in that period, now that we don't have a break, it is a real challenge. You can't deny that.
"We will do everything we can to produce the best performances and results and be focused on that as we possibly can be. However, it is a really heavy schedule.
"You've got to produce the best product that you can and that can be a challenge when you have so many fixtures."
Rodgers would support the reintroduction of the winter break "if it was ever possible".
"I think it's for the greater good of the game for our supporters," he added. "You think of the January schedule and the finances for supporters. You come off the back of a Christmas period and it's a run of games.
"I know the Celtic supporters and supporters in general will do everything they can to get to football games.
"But it might be also nice for them to have a wee bit of relief from that pressure of finding money for travel and food and everything to get to football games.
"I think the schedule is only getting greater and heavier and that will have an impact on players' injuries because they're not robots.
"Players are as fit as players have ever been in the history of the game but they are not robots and they need that recovery time.
"I've seen the schedule for the end of this season. You've got a Champions League final and two weeks later, there's a Club World Championship starting.
"How are you supposed to recover? How are you supposed to get yourself ready again? It's a real challenge for the modern player and especially the top player.
"There's bound to be breakdowns along the way.
"We want to produce the best football that we can for supporters so they get the value for money. You never want the tempo to drop. But that will invariably happen once you've just churned out all these games with very little recovery time."
The heavy schedule comes as Celtic prepare to host Young Boys in a crucial Champions League encounter on January 22. They will have played nine domestic matches in the month leading up to it.
"The spotlight will be on ourselves and Rangers in European competitions and you are going to come out the back end of a really, really gruelling schedule," Rodgers said.
"We have to cope with it and maybe in the future, the organisers can look at ways in which we can help."
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