Rejuvenated Celtic star lifts lid on 'frustrating' end under Brendan Rodgers and role of teammate

Since the departure of Brendan Rodgers at the end of October, £11 million record signing Engels has risen to prominence in the Celtic team. He had fallen out of favour under the Northern Irishman at the start of the season but regained form under caretaker boss Martin O'Neill.

It is easy to forget that Belgium internationalist Engels is just 22-years-old. He speaks maturely for a player so young and has already experienced highs and lows at Celtic since his move from Augsburg 18 months ago. Now he wants to kick on at Celtic - not least with a spot in the Belgian World Cup squad on his mind.

Playing regularly will help on that front. Engels admits to some frustration spending more time on the bench latterly under Rodgers than in the starting XI, being played from the beginning just six times this term before the managerial switch. He opened up on dealing with the situation and how he addressed it with the former manager.

"It's always frustrating as a player to be on the bench, especially I'm maybe the one that is really working hard and trying to be back in the team," said Engels. "If you don't really get a big chance to be back in the team and to show what you actually can contribute to the team, then it's always frustrating.

"But I knew that there would be a time that I would come back and be back in the team and you need to just take those opportunities if they come. So I really worked hard behind the scenes to be really fit for myself. If the chance would come, I would be ready for it and I think I'm now showing that I'm giving a lot to the team and hopefully I will never be out again."

Conversations were had with Rodgers

Asked if he had conversations with Rodgers on why he wasn't starting as often, Engels continued: "Yeah, obviously you go and ask why you're not playing. Especially if you played a lot of important games last season, then you're going to be a bit frustrated and you're going to go up to the manager and then ask for the reasons.

"We spoke about it and we had really good chats and he gave his clear opinion and it's up to me to just get on with it and work hard for myself and work hard for the team if I'm coming into the games to try to do something and try to change a little bit so that I can be back in the team.

"We had a really good chat. I said my opinion, he said his opinion and then we always discussed it. The thing is, the manager will always do the best for the team and that's sometimes not what you're thinking because you're thinking maybe in your own way of helping the team with this and this.

"So we had a lot of good chats with him and he spoke about what I needed to do better to become a better player and to be back in the team. So, we had some good discussions about that.

"It was just about small details and every manager has their own way of thinking and their own way of putting the players on the pitch. Sometimes you're not in that plan and then you need to deal with it and just work hard to become part of that plan. That's what I did. I worked really hard behind the scenes and I also got my opportunities."

Leaning on the support of captain McGregor

During his time on the sidelines, Engels took counsel from his teammate and captain Callum McGregor. The duo link well in midfield and it is clear the man ten years his senior has played a big part in the former Club Brugge man's improvement.

"He's helped me a lot," revealed Engels. "He's helping everybody like a real captain does. We have a really good relationship with each other. We find each other really well on the pitch and you see that every time in the games that we play together that we really work with each other and help each other in every way.

"Even though sometimes I need a man to cover a metre or something, he will do it and I will do the same for him. So he has helped me a lot, also off the pitch. I spoke to him when I wasn't in the team. I asked him how to come back into the team. What do I need to do? What is your view of seeing everything? He just gave his opinion about it and that helped me a lot to be calm and just work on it."

McGregor said at the start of this month that Engels is sometimes unfairly judged because of Celtic's outlay for him. The fee of £11m is a big one by Scottish standards. The man himself had his say on such a potentially weighty tag.

"I'm also not really a guy that is going on every social media to see every post about the £11million, like they always say. I just need to deal with it," said Engels.

"It's my thing to deal with it and I'm trying to always do my best and always try to help the team. Sometimes it's maybe not fair, but it is what it is. You need to go on with it and you need to show everybody that you are going to work more.

"I think every player feels the same pressure here. It's always going to be winning games and always going to be performing every game.

"Even though you had a fantastic game on Wednesday, you need to be back on Saturday or Sunday to be even better. You can have a really good game, but then if you have a worse game in the other game then they're going to speak about it, that you're not really performing well.

"It can change really well and fast. So it's up to us to keep on bringing good performances and then they have nothing to say, only positive things."