Everything Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said to Sky Sports, ahead of his team's Scottish Premiership match against Aberdeen on Sunday...

How is your squad looking after the midweek exertions in the Champions League?

We've recovered and had a good couple of days and a good session this morning so that was good. Injury-wise it's not so good as we have got Daizen Maeda as a result of the challenge that he got sent off for has sprained his medial knee ligament. He will probably be out for up to six weeks which isn't great. Other than that we will have the same squad available.

That is going to be a big blow, isn't it? Daizen brings so much work-rate and energy and endeavour to the team, doesn't he?

Yes. He brings quality too he can create goals and score goals as well. He is a great reference for the intensity of the team. He will be a big miss for us.

READ MORE: Celtic's defensive performance vs Atletico Madrid dissected

How do you reflect on the reaction to the defeat over in Madrid? How do you view how the team have equipped themselves so far in the Champions League?

Firstly, I haven't seen any reaction. That is one of the things you do as a manager, with the greatest respect, you don't care so much what people think. It is about what you assess and see yourself. I think we started the game really well and played with a real authority in the game that we wanted to play with. We conceded a poor goal and still right up until the sending off we were the team in the ascendency. The sending-off was very harsh, to say the least. Then you see it changes the course of the game. I just felt in the second half it is what happens when you are down to ten men. You have to give credit to them when you play with ten men you want to counter-press well, press well and make the pitch as big as you can. The difference in that game is that everything they hit seemed to go in from every angle and from outside of the box and then of course, you are on the end of a not very nice score-line. The players over the course of the games up until that sending-off have been really competitive in the division. We haven't got the points that we would have hoped for or even deserved. That's the reality of where we are at. We have two games to go and we will give everything in those games.

Are people too guilty of thinking short-term in both your spells here and Ange Postecoglou's time here that you have tried to be on the front foot and play your own football and that you have got into the Champions League and long term it will be for the greater good and long term you will get better at this level? Are people starting to panic and saying Scottish teams shouldn't do that? Should they should be more pragmatic and more defensive? They should maybe try to cling on and hope to nick results. Do you have to think along those lines more?

It depends on how you set your team up. It's not the style of most coaches here or those who come into the football club. It is certainly not in mine. I think the word you need to be is adaptable. I don't think in any part of the game until the Atletico match when we were playing with 10 men have we ever felt inferior in the game. I think what you do get at Champions League level is the very highest quality and situations that normally seem like nothing in your domestic league turn into an opportunity for the opponent to score and most teams you come up against the forward lines have big quality. That's the main difference. It is not about being pragmatic. What we have been - even with nine men in Feyenoord - we've been competitive. People are talking about the squad but a week or so ago when we played the first game against Atletico we were outstanding in the game and adapted in the game to get a result. It is just a real, real challenge when you are playing against top teams with 10 men and it is a learning experience and you have to move on.

You mentioned the squad. Take out the style and the approach part of it. When looking at the games, is there in mind that there will need to be an injection of quality if Celtic want to move forward in this competition, at some point will there have to have been something thrown into the mix?

There’s absolutely no doubt. It’s what I’ve said all along that you need to have quality in your squad and in particular at the very highest level. That’s what wins you games and that’s the difference for you. The players here deserve a huge amount of credit in terms of how they performed in the games. Tough one the other night, but of course to progress in it, it is about quality, and that’s the reality at this level.

READ MORE: Can Maik Nawrocki punch into Celtic's team? - video debate

Your opponents this weekend Aberdeen are themselves adjusting to European football and the rigours of it. How much sympathy do you have for Barry Robson and the staff, because you experienced that when you first encountered it with Liverpool?

Yeah, but that’s what you want. You want to be playing as many games as you can, which means you’re succeeding. Barry’s done a fantastic job there, but it is a big challenge. Ideally, when you’ve been away from home in a European game, you’d love to have a home game to follow. It’s natural, you need robust players, you need players that are mentally strong and have that ambition, not just in domestic games but European games. They’ve gone away and got a good result, and they’ll come and make it very difficult for us on Sunday.

What is the challenge of Aberdeen on Sunday, what do you expect from them? They’ve had a lot of turnover of players and new faces through the course of the summer and dealing with Europe as well?

We had a tough game against them up there earlier in the season, and we think this will be no different. They play mostly on the counter-attack so they’ll look to press the game early in the field and then retreat into a compact shape and make it difficult for you, so you have to be patient whilst moving the ball at speed to create opportunities. They can break out into the spaces because they’ve got some dynamic players. It’s going to be a game of patience for us, but we have to play at the speed that we want to play, and play the game we want to play in order to break them down. That’s our aim.