Brendan Rodgers has maintained that he does not have time to waste on former players questioning the current transfer policy at Celtic.

The Hoops manager was irked by comments from ex-Parkhead playmaker Kris Commons this week who claimed that the club need to bring in a central defender ahead of their forthcoming Europa League clash against Zenit St Petersburg in February.

Told that Commons felt there would be a particular scrutiny on Celtic in the transfer window with their European tie in mind, Rodgers was uncharacteristically brusque.

“No, there is not,” he shrugged. “By whom? Scrutiny by whom? Okay, move on.” Under his breath and with a contemptuous wave of the hand, he murmured: “Kris Commons….

“I’m about deeds, not words. I’ve heard some s**t since I’ve been up here. I’m worried about deeds. That’s the part of your industry that I don’t like.

“I don’t want to stand here and waste my time. I have a mountain of things to do rather than talk about speculation, or what Kris Commons or other guys think.

“Everyone has an opinion but the opinions are not always the reality.”

And the Celtic manager has insisted that defence is not a priority.

“Not for me, no,” he said.

"I don't know how many defenders you think we need. We've brought in a defender, we've got two centre-halves playing, we've got Jozo Simunovic, so we've got four centre-halves.”

Celtic have signed German defender Marvin Compper – ineligible for the competition and out for a month with a calf injury sustained in Dubai – and Scotland under-21 internationalist Lewis Morgan, who will not team up with the squad until the summer – but Rodgers has reiterated that he is content to wait for quality.

“We know what we want and we’re pretty calm on that,” said Rodgers. “We just need to bring in quality. I’m not concerned about the numbers we bring in. The job here to bring in quality to improve the level we are at and that usually takes time.

Rodgers also rebuffed suggestions that Celtic have placed a bid for 32-year-old Besiktas left-back Dusko Tusco. Reports had emerged in Turkey yesterday that the Serbian internationalist has been the subject of a bid from Celtic, something that Rodgers dismissed; “First I’ve heard,”

Meanwhile, Rodgers is optimistic that Stuart Armstrong will be back in training in just over a week’s time.

The midfielder successfully underwent an operation for a hernia problem on Tuesday morning in Munich and will face a fight to be fit in time for the game against Zenit.

“He should be back training in 10 days,” said Rodgers. “We’ve gone for the best treatment possible so he’s gone straight to Munich for his operation. We’ve got a leading specialist in hernias.

“He’s on his way back, he should be back within 10 days. He was playing with the problem and it just got worse and worse so best to operate now.”

Rodgers also reacted brusquely to enquiries about further interest in Jozo Simunovic. The Croatian defender was wanted by Italian side Lazio, but the Celtic manager insisted that there have been no formal offers for any of his squad.

“I don’t want to stand here and talk about players or waste my time trying to give you lines to put in the paper to look to sell players,” he said. “There are no offers, there is nothing. That’s the same for every player.”

Meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths did not train yesterday morning at Lennxtown and is a doubt for Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Brechin.

“We’ll see how he is,” said Rodgers. “He twisted his ankle a bit, so we’ll see how he is over the next couple of days.

“I don’t want to stand here and waste my time. I have a mountain of things to do rather than talk about speculation, or what Kris Commons or other guys think. “Everyone has an opinion but the opinions are not always the reality.”

And the Celtic manager has insisted that defence is not a priority.

“Not for me, no,” he said.

"I don't know how many defenders you think we need," he said. "We've brought in a defender, we've got two centre-halves playing, we've got Jozo Simunovic, so we've got four centre-halves.”

Celtic have signed German defender Marvin Compper – ineligible for the competition and out for a month with a calf injury sustained in Dubai – and Scotland under-21 internationalist Lewis Morgan, who will not team up with the squad until the summer – but Rodgers has reiterated that he is content to wait for quality.

“We know what we want and we’re pretty calm on that,” said Rodgers. “We just need to bring in quality. I’m not concerned about the numbers we bring in. The job here to bring in quality to improve the level we are at and that usually takes time.

Rodgers also rebuffed suggestions that Celtic have placed a bid for 32-year-old Besiktas left-back Dusko Tusco. Reports had emerged in Turkey yesterday that the Serbian internationalist has been the subject of a bid from Celtic, something that Rodgers dismissed; “First I’ve heard,”

Meanwhile, Rodgers is optimistic that Stuart Armstrong will be back in training in just over a week’s time.

The midfielder successfully underwent an operation for a hernia problem on Tuesday morning in Munich and will face a fight to be fit in time for the game against Zenit.

“He should be back training in 10 days,” said Rodgers. “We’ve gone for the best treatment possible so he’s gone straight to Munich for his operation. We’ve got a leading specialist in hernias.

“He’s on his way back, he should be back within 10 days. He was playing with the problem and it just got worse and worse so best to operate now.”

Rodgers also reacted brusquely to enquiries about further interest in Jozo Simunovic. The Croatian defender was wanted by Italian side Lazio, but the Celtic manager insisted that there have been no formal offers for any of his squad.

“I don’t want to stand here and talk about players or waste my time trying to give you lines to put in the paper to look to sell players,” he said. “There are no offers, there is nothing. That’s the same for every player.”

Meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths did not train yesterday morning at Lennxtown and is a doubt for Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Brechin.

“We’ll see how he is,” said Rodgers. “He twisted his ankle a bit, so we’ll see how he is over the next couple of days.”