Celtic ace urges squad to 'change the recipe' as he backs head-strong teammate to recover from tough night

Brendan Rodgers’ side welcome Motherwell to Parkhead this weekend on the back of a frustrating night in the Europa League, where they lost 2-0 to Braga on Thursday night. A failure to score for the fifth time in their last nine attempts, the American admits his teammates need to find different ways of winning football matches in order to rediscover their rhythm.

“We probably weren't quite enough to win the game,” said Carter-Vickers in the aftermath of the defeat to Braga. “The big moments went against us in the game, which is never helpful at this level. We want to be winning games at home, though. You always want to score goals, and it is something we are working on and trying to improve.”

Changing to a back three in the second-half of the game, the 27-year-old admits the system was a new one to him, but one the team are capable of adapting to if it means they win games and progress in Europe.

“We felt that first-half they got too much control of the ball, which we obviously didn’t want,” said Carter-Vickers. “I think the changes worked second-half, we were more dominant in the game, and we limited the time they had on the ball. I haven’t really played much in a three in my career, but it’s football, you get on with it. I wouldn’t mind [doing it more]. It’s up to the manager.

“We’ve worked on a back three in possession before, but a ‘proper’ back three in and out of position, we’ve not worked on that much. I think it worked pretty well in the second half. We have to find a way to get results and win games, perhaps without scoring two or three goals. Whether that is winning 1-0, keeping it tight at the back, and getting clean sheets, that might be the recipe for the next few weeks. I am confident that, at some point, it will click.

“Anytime new players come in, it takes a little while to learn each other's game. Sometimes that is the difference, it’s that half a second where if I know exactly what you’re going to do, I can time my movement perfectly. But if I’m still learning about players, it takes half a second, and that can be a difference between scoring and not.”

As part of that second-half reshuffle, young full-back Colby Donovan was sacrificed as Celtic went in search of a second-half equaliser. Impressive in the 1-1 Europa League draw with Crvena zvezda recently, the young Scot endured after a difficult first 45 minutes against Braga, but Carter-Vickers insists it won’t knock his confidence.

“Colby has been good,” said Carter-Vickers. “He has taken it in his stride. If you know him and his personality, that’s just how he is. He’s been working hard in training with us for a while, so he deserved that opportunity. I don’t think him coming off was due to how he played; it was just a tactical change. It’ll only make him stronger going forward. He’s only 19 and has loads of developing to do. You can see in the games he’s played, he’s already started to improve. If he continues like that, he’ll be a very good player.”

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