Brendan Rodgers expects Michael Beale to bounce back after Rangers exit

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Michael Beale to learn from his Rangers experience and be a success in his next job.

Beale was sacked on Sunday after 307 days in the post with Rangers seven points adrift of Celtic in the Premiership following their third league defeat of the season against Aberdeen 24 hours earlier.

Rodgers and Beale were both on the Chelsea coaching staff at the same time and the former Rangers boss was Liverpool Under-21s head coach when the Celtic manager was in charge at Anfield.

"I'm always saddened when any manager loses their job, no matter what club they work at," said Rodgers when asked for his reaction ahead of Celtic's Champions League clash with Lazio.

"When you manage Celtic or Rangers, they are big-pressure jobs. I am sure Michael will go away and reflect on his time here and no doubt he will he come back in again, he is an outstanding young coach and manager.

"He will go away and reflect on the pressure he was under and the expectation and the stress that this job can bring, and he will learn from it and go on and get another job and make a success of it, I am pretty sure.

"Whatever club, whoever it is, it's not nice when someone loses their role and position.

"I hope for him the best for the future, of course."

Kevin Muscat, Frank Lampard and Pascal Jansen are among the bookmakers' favourites to succeed Beale.

Former Rangers player Muscat led Yokohama F Marinos to the J-League title last season, following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Ange Postecoglou, who clinched the treble for Celtic last term with the help of two Hampden wins over Beale's side.

Lampard is available following underwhelming spells in charge of both Everton and Chelsea last season while Jansen's AZ Alkmaar side sit second in the Eredivisie after making the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season.

Carter-Vickers May Make Early Return

Cameron Carter-Vickers could be in line for a surprise recall in Wednesday's game.

The centre-back has not played since suffering a hamstring injury against Aberdeen on August 13.

With Gustaf Lagerbielke missing through suspension following his red card in the Group E opener against Feyenoord, and Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh still out through injury, Rodgers has limited options in central defence.

Liam Scales is set to continue in the team following his impressive recent form, while on-loan Liverpool Nat Phillips is available after coming off the bench at Motherwell on Saturday to make his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury on his debut against Dundee on September 16.

Rodgers said: "In terms of Nat, he came through fine so he will be available.

"Cam, we wouldn't take a risk unless he was fit. He has come through really, really well. He is further down the road than we thought.

"He has had a real good week of training and he's been doing lots of other work out on the field before that.

"I said before that it (his return) might have been after the international break but he's made great progress, so we will just assess that to see if he can be in for the squad (on Wednesday) and if he is, then obviously it would be great news for us."

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