Rodgers praises goalscorer Sinclair as Celtic see off Hamilton
The winger scored his 13th goal of the season in the 3-0 win
Brendan Rodgers praised Scott Sinclair after the in-form Celtic winger notched his eighth goal in seven games in the 3-0 win over Hamilton at Parkhead.
The Hoops had been kept at bay for 40 minutes by the heroics of the Accies' 22-year-old goalkeeper Ryan Fulton until he let a long-distance drive from midfielder Callum McGregor slip through his legs.
The keeper was at fault again with a fumble which allowed Ryan Christie to score a second in the 76th minute, another present to Rodgers who was celebrating his 46th birthday, with Sinclair heading in a late third from a Mikael Lustig cross for his 13th goal of the season.
Rodgers was pleased with “a very good win” which took them three points ahead of Kilmarnock at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, with their game in hand against St Johnstone on Wednesday night, and the Celtic boss noted Sinclair's contribution.
He said: “I think you've seen the body language, the aggression in his game.
“I have known Scotty for years and yes, he might not always play well but his consistency in the last couple of months has been excellent.
“What he will always do is he will always score a goal.
“It was a really good goal for us. We worked it well, took it quickly and he gets himself in and scores with a header.
“You can see his confidence is at a really high level.”
Fulton was a youth player at Liverpool when Rodgers was boss at Anfield and the Northern Irishman was sympathetic.
He said: “Young Ryan was unfortunate. He might get a wee bit of stick for the second one but the first one is a difficult one, it has come through so many bodies.
“He was an outstanding young goalkeeper and highly-rated there (at Liverpool), but like all young goalkeepers they need to go out and play.
“He made saves in the first half, he kicks the ball a mile and he was unfortunate with the second as the pitch is bobbly and it popped up in front of him. But other than that he kept the scoreline down.”
“Who would be a goalkeeper?'' said Accies boss Martin Canning after coming into the media room, with his side still in 10th place and now with eight defeats and a draw in their last nine games.
“He made five or six real good saves but unfortunately for him the couple of mistakes he makes he gets punished for. That's the life of a goalkeeper.
“He put his hand up in the dressing room. I said to him that he will recover, you don't get to this level as a goalkeeper and not make mistakes.
“He is a top young goalkeeper, you see that for 98 per cent of the game,
“For us as a team that's the way it has been the last three games.
“We need to cut that out and give ourselves a chance."