Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic will only get their mojo back if they string together a run of positive results
The Parkhead club had substitute Leigh Griffiths to thank for claiming an opening night win against Rosenborg in the Europa League, the striker's 87th minute header proving the difference between the teams
His goal prevented Celtic from racking up a second successive goalless draw but the slender win means only Partick Thistle and Suduva are the only team to have conceded more than once against the champions' in their past 10 games
Acknowledging that his side have rarely fired in all cylinders this season, the Celtic manager, who takes his team to Kilmarnock tomorrow, believes the dynamism seen in the past two season will only return by racking up victories
Asked why his side were still to find their best form, Rodgers said: 'I'm not sure
It's a bit of everything really. 'We lost dynamic players. We have had lots of games
We just have to continue to work hard on the training field and win games when you are not at your best
Being able to win and not give away much is important because that helps your confidence and you grow and grow from there
'The squad are very honest, a brilliant bunch of boys to work with. 'We haven't been as dynamic as we have been in the last couple of years
It might be a season for us like that, but we will always find a way and try to find a solution to perform well because performing, for me, is very, very important
' While the positive for Rodgers is five straight clean sheets, just five goals scored in as many league games to date is the obvious concern
'You can't score perfect goals all the time,' he added. 'That's probably the bit that's missing
When you get into the final third of the pitch, you see balls where they just need a bit of subtlety and a bit of softness for a pullback
'We're rifling a cross and you have no chance to finish.' Effusive in his praise for the way his players kept going against a Rosenborg side who set out to frustrate them, though, Rodgers feels the importance of getting the club's first opening night win in a group stage is hard to overstate
'The boys put a great effort into the game,' he said. 'I asked them to have this resilience and to have great spirit and persistence to keep going and they did that
'And they got the win. It was a very good three points for us against a team who came with a huge level of confidence
They won nine of their previous 11 games, and drew two. They were always going to be difficult for us, but we coped well
'I don't think we are anywhere near the level of our game. The win was probably down to spirit and persistence
'Whilst we are not conceding - that's five games when we have not conceded - you just have to keep going
'You have to be persistent and you have to trust right to the very end that we will get the goal
' Shorn of Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic through illness and injury, respectively, Rodgers paired Dedryck Boyata with Filip Benkovic to good effect
A one-man soap opera as he failed to get his move to Fulham in the summer, the Belgian appears to have refocused to strike up an understanding with the on loan Leicester man
'You can see his (Boyata's) commitment,' Rodgers said. 'It was a wonderful header back into the second six-yard box
Griff read it really well and finished it. 'I thought he (Benkovic) was good. He is just finding his way
When the ball comes into the box and you are under a bit of pressure from set-pieces and crosses, you're looking at a centre-half who can really go and head it
I thought he was very good at that. His distribution of the ball was good. 'He will find more comfort the more he plays and once he understands how we play a bit more
For 21, he is very promising.' Rodgers will now implore his players to go again at Rugby Park tomorrow - a stadium where they lost last season
"That's what you have to do with all the games,' he said. 'It's just a case of recovering and that's why we have a biggish squad
"It will be a tough game for us. Steve's (Clarke) team are very well organised, tough to break down and are good on the counter attack
"
For more infomation >> News brief, 9/21/2018, 11 p.m. update - Duration: 1:13. 
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