Denmark might have given Sviatchenko the cold shoulder but Brendan hasn't

The Danish stopper has been a mainstay at the heart of the Celtic defence with the Hoops boss raving about the 25-year-old’s application and commitment to improvement as the Parkhead side were educated in the Champions League.

“In Denmark they know that I played Champions League but it could have been much bigger I think,” he said. “To have a Danish player playing against the biggest players in the Champions League should have been a bigger thing in Denmark.

“I know that Copenhagen are getting all the fuss, all the credit. I don't think the game was even shown on Danish television, but Gladbach had two other Danes playing. [Andres Christensen and Jannik Vestergaard.]

“But it was an interesting group with three Danish defenders all playing in the same position in the national team, those two are keeping me away from playing. I don't measure myself against them in that matter but I think we did well and I think I did well against them. “

It has been a steep learning curve this year for Rodgers’ side but Sviatchenko will now look to absorb the lessons from Europe’s premier competition as he prepares for the remainder of the season.

There will be a sense of frustration now that Celtic do not play another European game for six months, but the defender believes that the experience of the last few months will help the club negotiate the notoriously tough qualifying route.

“I remember saying that we are not tourists in the tournament. After the first game, it might have seemed like we were tourists,” he said.

After that, though, I think we have showed a rapid progression. Finishing on three points might not be the best but we were unbeaten against Manchester City, who are competitors for the trophy and maybe one of the best in the world.

“Against Gladbach, it was small details. Barcelona were just Barcelona but I think we did everything we could in the second game.

“I think we have learned a lot about being in the Champions League. For me and some of the other players it was our first time.

“Obviously, we wanted to progress at least to the Europa League. But we will now do everything we can in the league and hopefully next year we will be back in the Champions League.

“I think there are small margins. Against Glabach away, we could have won the game. The same against City at home and away.

“Maybe the decisive game was at home to Gladbach when we just didn’t click. Sometimes you have those games.

“We will take all those things and learn from them. This is a team that has been together for six months and you are wrong if you think you are done after that length of time. Imagine where we can be from eight months from now?”

Rodgers revealed a few weeks ago that he was impressed with the manner in which Sviatchenko edited his own clips from games and then presented them to the coaching staff for analysis.

And as the dust settled on Tuesday night after Celtic’s draw with Manchester City at the Etihad, a game that brought the curtain down on their Champions league involvement this season, Sviatchenko spent the wee small hours going through the game with a fine toothcomb.

“We have a thing called InStats where you can see all your clips and Stevie our analysis guy gives me the game and I go through them minute by minute,” he said. “I take down some small text, something like 'good pass' or 'could have been a better pass'. Maybe I should have shown myself. Good defending. Things like that. It is something that helps me improve.

“I couldn't sleep after the game because of the adrenaline that was pumping. So I used the time to go through the game, use the time in some way. Yesterday I just went through it to have a feeling of what the game was about and I asked Chris [Davis] if he could come back to me on a few things because it would be nice to have their take. I come in with my clips. It is just a good thing of getting the game sorted in some way.

“If I take a decision and the other guys aren't ready for that decision it might be a bad decision. I agree that I feel fit, I think that is because I have been playing so many games. It is nice to be in good shape but I still think I can improve and I know that is the main thing. I know the manager wants me to be even better and do things 100% sometimes, rather than 90%.

“I don't know if he is hard to please but the manager demands and that is a good thing. Because his players want to improve as well as he wants us to improve. The combination is good but I always take a good positive if people want you to improve because that means they see something in you.”