Brendan Rodgers has hinted that Jozo Simunovic could be set to become one of his first choice centre-backs this season after being impressed on his initial viewing of the Croatian defender.

Simunovic had a deadline day move to Torino collapse but Rodgers was quick to praise the recent performances of the defender who has emerged back into the team after a nine month lay-off due to a complicated knee problem.

The defender came on in Inverness and then started against Alloa last night – but he could have a more substantial role to play once he is fully fit.

Read more: Late rally sends Celtic through to semi-final of Betfred CupGlasgow Times: Jozo Simunovic vowed to fight for his place at Celtic after a transfer to Torino fell through Photo: Jeff Holmes/PA Wire.

“He looks a fantastic player and I’m talking more in training than the games,” said Rodgers.

“He came in at Inverness and the plan was to try and give him gametime tonight and get him through 60 minutes. If you look at his profile he’s 6ft 3, he’s strong, he’s quick he’s dominant.

Read more: Late rally sends Celtic through to semi-final of Betfred Cup

“He shows wonderful mentality for me and he’s a player that I really like. If you see him in training he looks impressive.

“Hopefully he stays fit and makes his way into the team.”

Asked if the defender could be a regular this term, the Celtic boss was emphatic with his reply.

“He can be – 150%,” he said. “He’s a top player and a big talent. I hadn’t seen much of him and he was injured. I can see why he’s highly-rated and I can see why a club such as Torino wanted to take him.

“He’s got all the attributes to be a top centre-half and now it’s about availability and playing.”

Meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths is also in contention for next week’s UEFA Champions League meeting against Manchester City.

The striker, last season’s top scorer, has been out with a hamstring injury sustained against Aberdeen almost a month ago but is expected to feature in this weekend’s game against Kilmarnock, giving him some time to catch up on match fitness ahead of the game against the Barclays Premiership team.

“He trained Monday, Tuesday and he should train Thursday Friday and be back for Saturday,” said Rodgers. “That’s great news because he’s a really important player for us.”

For the Celtic manager, though, last night was all about the relief of getting through what became an unnecessarily anxious night against an organised and tenacious Alloa side.

“The main objective was to qualify,” he said. “We always knew it was going to be a tough game for us when you look at how Alloa came through the group stages. They beat Inverness and Ross County - Premiership teams - so we knew they had great resilience in the team.

Read more: Late rally sends Celtic through to semi-final of Betfred Cup

“We knew they had great mentality and character to want to defend and they proved that. We had a lot of chances in the first half and didn’t take them and as the game moves on you can become a little bit edgy - but we showed great patience and got there in the end.

“Performance wise we’ll play much better. I wasn’t pleased at half-time at all because we have to be more clinical than that. Overall we had 13 shots on target and probably another 13 that weren’t on target.

“So to score only the two goals was disappointing, you have to be more ruthless than that.

“The name of the game was about being patient. If you move the ball quickly enough you can open up the sides of the field and eventually the opportunities will come. But we needed to be much better.”