De Vries’ message to Rodgers

Dorus De Vries is hoping that his debut against Aberdeen is a sign of things to come at Celtic.

The Dutch ‘keeper signed during the summer from Nottingham Forrest and made his debut in Celtic’s 4-1 win over the Dons after spending several weeks on the sidelines to recover from an ankle injury.

With games in the Champions League against Barcelona and Manchester City as well as league games against newly promoted side Rangers and Inverness, the 35-year-old will be hoping to remain in Rodgers’ plans.

Speaking to the Glasgow Evening Times, he said:

It is his decision. I want to play, of course I do.

Once you get into the team, you don’t want to go out. I am working so hard and I want to stay in. I want to make it too hard for the manager to leave me out.

De Vries worked with Rodgers at Swansea and while he is familiar with the man in the dugout, familiarising himself with his new defence will take time as he admitted.

You always have to have a feeling for the defenders protecting your goal. That is so important for me in my position. It will only take a few games for me to get there.

I need to know how certain players react in specific moments of the game; how do they react under pressure, how do they cope with the back-passes, how do they communicate and understanding the distance I like between the defensive line and myself.

Rodgers will have a big decision to make ahead of the Champions League tie away to Barcelona between the posts.

Craig Gordon has been the outright number one ‘keeper at Celtic since he signed as a free agent two years ago, but Rodgers’ need for a ball-playing ‘keeper could se De Vries retain his place in the goal for the upcoming games.