Manager focused on win v FC Kairat | OneFootball

There’s been a pretty quick turnaround for Celtic this week as less than 24 hours after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Livingston, the team were on their way for the first part of a 7,000-mile round trip.

The focal point of that, of course, is tomorrow evening’s (Tuesday’s) UEFA Champions League qualifier in Almaty with FC Kairat.

Brendan Rodgers and his side travel to face the Kazakhstan champions following a 0-0 draw at Celtic Park last Wednesday, and the manager is no doubt as to the way his charges will approach this vital game.

He said in the pre-match media conference: “Every player, every coach, every manager wants to work at the highest level of club football, and for us that is the Champions League.

“For me it’s not about don’t worry about failing, it’s worry about performance because if you think so much on the consequence, then it can paralyse you.

“That’s not something that 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.

“The travel and the preparation has gone very well, so we’ll have a nice session this evening to have our final preparation.

“We’re all focused on the game but, like I said, if you overthink it, and I felt we probably did that a little bit in the first half, you don’t play with the freedom.

“So 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.”

Following a tough test against FC Kairat last week, this tie also brings that long journey as well, with the searing Asian heat plus the time-zone difference.

However, the manager will accept no excuses as his players take to the field tomorrow after a couple of days of still working to Celtic Park time.

The Irishman said: “There’s no excuse for us, especially when you see how well Kairat worked last week as they had the same journey going the other way.

“So that won’t be an excuse for us, and, as I said, we all feel fine, we feel great. We are on our own time-zone.

“And, like I say, we’ll prepare and there will be no excuse. We have to perform and that’s what we’re focused on,

“We have a lot of international players that are used to travel. You spend a lot of your life travelling and being in hotels preparing yourself physically and mentally, and our trip out here wasn’t so bad.

“The guys got the chance to bond together as well. So it will be nice just to get on to the grass this evening just to have a light session and get moving again, and then by the time tomorrow comes, we’ll be ready for that.

Of course the team aren’t the only ones to make the trip as a number of travelling fans have also flew out to Almaty.

The manager said: “We want to make the journey worthwhile for them because it’s a long way to go to come and see their team.

“We really want to reward them with that victory that will send them home happy, and everyone else back home happy.”

Watch the full video to hear the Manager on:

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Fixtures

Kairat Vs. Celtic - Tue, Aug 26th 2025, 17:45