Brendan Rodgers will call up an old contact over the coming weeks as he looks to ensure that Tom Rogic is carefully nursed through what could be a gruelling close season.

The midfielder has been called into Ange Postecogou’s Australian squad for a packed schedule of games, just as he has come back to fitness with Celtic.

Rogic made his comeback after a four month injury lay-off with an ankle problem but there will be little down time in June as the Socceroos face a World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia before a friendly against Brazil.

Australia then have three Confederations Cup games against Germany, Chile and Cameroon. If they get to the final of the tournament in Russia there could be more games scheduled.

Celtic will play their first Champions League qualifier around the 11th and 12th July, meaning that Rogic would return from national duty to go straight into the season with Celtic.

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Given the length of time that the player has been out for that might be no bad thing, as Rodgers himself acknowledged, however the Hoops boss will look to ensure that Rogic is handled with care, given the history he has with injury issues.

“I know Ange. He’s a good guy,” explained Rodgers. “I first came across him when we went with Liverpool to Australia and we played against his team in Melbourne before he became the national manager.

“There were 96,000 there in the MCG and he’s a big Liverpool supporter, so I had a good couple of days with him.

“I chatted with him, he has good ideas, he’s a good coach. We can speak about it and it is something that I trust Ange on with his work.

“He has other players there, Tom is one of them and I don’t think there is any drama in it.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers backs Celtic star Scott Sinclair for England call-up​

“He’ll look to use him as much as he can, as well as being aware of where he’s at with his injury.

“We’ll see with Tom. We just need to look at that.

“He’s been out for quite a long time and back training. He’s come into the last couple of games and you can see the difference that he can make when he goes into the team.

“We’ll just monitor it between now and the end of the season.

“Tom is a very proud boy and wants to play for his country, of course.

“He has missed a large part of the season with a number of months out, so it could be the best thing for him to get a number of games, we’ll see.

“I was talking to Tom on it. There’s a lot of travel for him.

“To Australia and then back out again to Russia to play in the tournament. I’m not sure he’ll play in all five games.

“The season is coming to a close really and he’s missed out on a number of months, so we’ll just see where he is at.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers believes that he has got the best out of his squad this season by looking to explore the avenues in which players excel in, rather than focussing on what they cannot do.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers backs Celtic star Scott Sinclair for England call-up​

There have been a number of players in the Parkhead dressing room who have produced on a consistent basis over the course of the campaign with the likes of Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Kieran Tierney catching the eye.

“I tend to lead in a different way,” said Rodgers. “My way of leadership is a shift from areas of weakness to focus on the strengths; I am pretty sure Lionel Messi is not out working for an hour on his headers every day because he is not great in the air. He will work on things that he is good at. “What are people good at? Can you make that better and give them confidence. Lots of people will tell you what someone can’t do but what can they do which is really good and can you then fit the rest around that?”

Tierney is expected to be named Young Player of the Year again while Player of the Year will also go to one of the above.

Rodgers was coy when it came to naming his own choice, however he is well aware that it will be the Hoops who provide the winner.

“It’ll be from Celtic,” he said. “That is no disrespect because I think there are a lot of good players. The Aberdeen boys have done great. Jonny Hayes I know well. I took Jonny to Reading when he was 16 so I know how good a player he is and I have been really impressed with him.

“Niall McGinn and Kenny McLean too have been excellent for them. They have good players who have done very well but I look at the level our players have played at, the consistency and the quality and I would be surprised if it wasn’t a Celtic player who takes it.”