BRENDAN Rodgers last night revealed that he had fully expected Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths to score when he threw the striker on towards the end of their opening Europa League match with Rosenborg.

The Scottish champions struggled up front despite dominating their limited Norwegian rivals in the Group B match at Parkhead.

However, Rodgers put Griffiths on for Odsonne Edouard, who had disappointed in attack, in the second-half and was rewarded with a goal with three minutes of regulation time remaining.

The 28-year-old's header secured the double treble winners first ever victory in their opening European group game in 15 attempts.

The former Livingston, Dundee, Wolves and Hibernian man had been fined and given three penalty points for speeding at court in Dundee earlier in the day.

But the Celtic manager anticipated his substitute, who signed a contract tying him to the Glasgow club until 2022, to make the difference when he put him on.

“He seems to have this in-built brain to deal with all this stuff," said Rodgers. "Probably a lot of players, what happens in their world can be a real distraction. He learns to deal with it.

“He’s a great boy, we all love him and I know I can rely on him, when I put him on the pitch, that he always has the possibility to score. It was a great night for him and the team and our first three points.

"To get a 1-0 in a European game – and everyone was telling us before the game that Celtic have never won their first group game and we did that – was very important. It was an important three points for us.”

Rodgers added: "What we know about Leigh is that he can score goals. You fancy him in a game like that. If there is an opportunity and a chance he can take it. It was the only chance that he had in the game.

"We got the ball into the box, he anticipated it and it was a great finish, to hit it into the ground and get the winning goal. I am delighted for him, delighted for all the players. Like I say, it is the first three points in the group stage.

“Leigh is 28 and has signed a four year deal. We still think there is a lot of improvement that he can make. Not just him, but the rest of the players."

Rodgers admitted that he had feared Celtic would be held to a 0-0 draw by Rosenborg when they failed to convert any of the chances they created up front.

“I was very happy with the goal," he said. "It was a great win in relation to our spirit in the game and our persistence to keep going to the very end.

“We were playing against a Rosenborg team who have nine games and drawn two since we last faced them so they came with a real high level of confidence and they surprised us in the first 15 to 20 minutes by playing a diamond.

“But once we found a balance to defend against that we started to come into the game and created some chances particularly down the left side.

“But without being at the top of our game we kept going and that’s what I asked them to do after the game last week. We have to find a way of winning when we are not playing as well as we would like and the players did that tonight.

“Five clean sheets in a row as well which is good. They didn’t get a shot on target against us so we’ll take the three points and be really pleased.

Rodgers continued: “It looked like it might finish up a draw, but you’ve got to keep going. I understand the supporters. Over the last couple of years they have been used to us being a bit more dynamic, a bit faster and better in our attacking.

“At the moment too many passes are going back the way but it will come. We’ll work at it on the training field and we’ll look to find the solution. But while we are doing that it’s very important you continue to win. So this is a very important three points for us.”