Brendan Rodgers discusses the Celtic talent he is most excited about, as well as…

However, the Hoops international team, which included Kieran Tierney and newcomer Benjamin Nygren, remained on the ice and will face Estrella in Lisbon this weekend.

The recruitment push will continue in the meanwhile, according to Rodgers: “There is a lot of work going on in the background and things that we hope to achieve over the next several weeks.

“We definitely need that, especially at the top of the pitch. But no, there’s a lot of work going on, but I can’t confirm that there’s anything there right now.

“Those international boys, they’ve now got the run-in, so it will be their first action at the weekend.”

Rodgers was taken aback by Tierney’s return and new signing Nygren’s debut.

“I’m really excited about him (Nygren), he’s a forward thinking player, has good legs, gets around the pitch, and has shown up well since he’s come in,” he said.

“Kieran was excellent during my first visit here. He has gone away and gained a great deal of experience and maturity.

“We also want to manage him since he has had a lot of issues with his fitness over the previous several years, but it’s amazing to have him back.

Ben Nygren (Image: SNS Group.)

“You can see his power, and I know he’s very thrilled to be back. As I previously stated, he is merely in the building, but he will quickly learn.

“You see that competitiveness that he has and he’s doing really well.”

Adam Idah will perform in Portugal after missing a hometown event.

Rodgers stated, “Obviously, emotionally, it would have been fantastic, and I’d have loved to have played Adam here, but the international players only returned on Friday, so he trained hard this morning, as did practically all of the other players.

“It’s just too risky to come back in after being off for the summer and only training on Fridays and Saturdays; we’d ordinarily give them at least a week before playing.

“Adam knows. I think it’s fantastic for him to be back home; when I told him last year that we wouldn’t be traveling to Cork, he was quite excited.

“He understood why he wasn’t, but I know he’s loved being back here for this short time.”

Rodgers indicated that Reo Hatate is close to returning, while Cameron Carter-Vickers is less than a fortnight away from action.

He stated: “Reo is good. He’s been training since he returned and looks great.

“He appeared to be in good shape, therefore there were no lingering effects from the injury. Cam is still working with the conditioning on the field on his own, and we anticipate that he will be ready to play just before or after Newcastle. But he’ll be joining in shortly.”

Defender Stephen Welsh, who has been linked with a move to Belgium, sustained another shoulder injury in Cork, and Rodgers said: “It’s a bit of an annoyance for him because it’s the fourth time it’s happened to him.”

“So we just needed to make sure he was okay and get him off.”

Meanwhile, Hoops starlet Jude Bonner is scheduled to join Ayr United on a season-long loan.

The highly-rated 19-year-old made his debut last season, but will be loaned out to gain game time under Somerset Park manager Scott Brown.