Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that the Parkhead side will “write their own story” after he lauded his side’s 3-1 win at Fir Park.
And the Hoops boss has insisted that it is way too early to write Celtic off just yet as he hinted at a perceived narrative that has surrounded his team this term.
Celtic came from a goal down after Blair Spittal’s effort had sent Motherwell into the break in front.
Adam Idah came off the bench to level five minutes into the second period before then grabbing the crucial second in the 94th minute. Luis Palma made certain of the points with a 96th minute effort.
It closes the gap at the top to two points with Rangers frontrunners.
“I think the story is already written for us this season, and that is the one thing that I reinforce with the players,” he said.
“All the noise, everything that has been around this team for virtually the whole season.
“We get the chance to write our story, no one else. And that is what we will do.
“Today was very, very important for that, for the belief, so now we go into our next game and the optics of it are that its two points and very, very close.
“I think that is how it is going to be through to the end, but it’s about playing with that mentality in the second half.
“When we do that, we look a really good team.”
Rodgers insisted that had his side had to settle for a point it would not have been a disaster – “four points is nothing, it really isn’t” – but the optics around his side winning on the back of Rangers’ 5-0 hammering of Hearts on Saturday was difficult to ignore.
The other positive note for Rodgers other than the three points was the return of Cameron Carter-Vickers who replaced Maik Nawrocki in the second period.
“Yeah, it’s massive for us,” he said.
“You see when he comes into the game, there’s no trouble.
“The big guy up front gave us a problem in the first half with his strength and his size, and Cam comes in and just controls that side of it and allows us to play and get forward quicker, because he’s controlling that along with Scalesy.
“So, him coming back is huge for us.”
Meanwhile, Rodgers accepted the late nature of the win took its toll.
“Celtic’s never good for the blood pressure, that’s for sure! It never is,” he joked.
“It shows the belief, and that has to be at the forefront of everything, because that comes before performance.
“Before you go out onto the pitch, you need to believe, and that’s what we work on with the players.
“It hasn’t been the most fluent this season for so many reasons, but now I think we are getting some key players back and it is starting to really stiffen it up for us.
“It allows us to have that base to attack the games, and they have that belief to keep going.
“It is what this club is known for, and every group has to have it. If you play for Celtic, you need to keep going until the very end.”
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