Callum McGregor is regularly one of the first names on the Celtic team list. So, whenever his name is not in the starting XI, it leads to question marks. Admittedly, the captain's recent performances have been a bit underwhelming after what had been a phenomenal start to the campaign and perhaps a bit of time off is exactly what he needs at the moment.
It is worth pointing out that Celtic managed to get a 4-0 win against St Johnstone despite McGregor not starting. And it was not a complete rest for the captain either, who was brought on as a substitute.
Rodgers has now explained his selection choice for the St Johnstone. The decision to leave McGregor out of the starting XI was clearly a move to give the club captain a breather ahead of their upcoming trip to Ibrox to take on the Rangers.
As reported by The Celtic Way, Rodgers said to BBC Scotland:
"With Callum, he virtually plays in a lot of the games, but every now and then it's good to take the shine off him a little bit.
"Like any other player, he also is human and he needs to get some recovery in the legs, especially with the closeness of all the games.
"I know he's there if I need him. But he's like every other player, he needs to recover at times and this is the chance for us to do it."
Celtic boss explains why Callum McGregor was dropped
At the moment, Philippe Clement's side are well and truly struggling. After losing to St Mirren in midweek, they could only manage a draw against Motherwell this weekend. Going away to Ibrox and defeating them would end the title race for all intents and purposes.
Hopefully, we will get a better performance from Celtic against the Rangers at Ibrox than we did at Hampden Park in the Scottish League Cup final. A refreshed McGregor could help in that regard.
Another positive over the last two games has been Arne Engels. The Belgian has put in two excellent displays and hopefully, it is a sign that he is finding his feet at Parkhead. He has faced quite a bit of criticism since his club-record move in the summer and has a lot of doubters that he needs to prove wrong.