While the increasingly frantic focus has been on getting players into Celtic, Brendan Rodgers has acknowledged that this time of year also leaves teams vulnerable to losing key players of their own.

Moussa Dembele’s situation on the final 48 hours of the summer transfer window left the Parkhead side short of attacking options for the opening part of the season with Leigh Griffiths’ illness meaning that Odsonne Edouard was the only out and out striker at the club.

Porto have not been deterred in their pursuit of midfielder Olivier Ntcham despite the French under-21 internationalist signing an extension to his contract earlier this season and Rodgers is wary of any last moves that could weaken his squad.

The Celtic manager is keen on getting players out on loan who are not getting any game time such as Lewis Morgan who looks set to team up with Jack Ross at Sunderland but Rodgers is reluctant to allow any regulars to leave at this stage.

“Yeah, there is always that possibility,” he said when asked of a move for a key player. “You can try and plan for that but there are some things you just can’t forecast, like Moussa at the end of the last window. That was an unfortunate situation but he had to move on in the end.

“The club benefited, which is great, but it’s not ideal in terms of squad preparation. We never thought we were going to lose him, we thought it would be in the summer.

“It’s a window where we want to strengthen, we certainly don’t want to weaken the squad. All the players here, I expect to stay. If we can get one or two in, it would help to make us strong. There are some areas we are looking at.”

Edouard is expected to be in the squad for tonight’s game against St Johnstone while Dedryck Boyata has an ongoing issue with his abductor and Kieran Tierney has yet to resume full training.

Tonight’s game not only allows Rodgers to extract himself from the pressures of the final stages of the window but also presents the chance to put a little daylight between Celtic and the rest.

This has the closest title race he has been involved in since arriving at the club but Rodges is fairly relaxed when it comes to maximising the Parkhead side’s game-in-hand.

“The last game against St Johnstone was the catalyst,” he said, in reference to the League Cup tie that came on the back of a defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in the sticky opening weeks of the season.

“We were tip-toeing back into form and that game really allowed us to kick on.

“It will be important for us. We’ve got quite a good goal difference at this stage but there’s still quite a way to go. We stay relaxed and our focus is to make sure we pick up the points.

“It will be a tough game. I’ve been impressed at how the players have become better over my time here at dealing with teams who come and make it tough for you. The calmness and the speed at which we play, like at the weekend, gets the job done really well.

“For us, we are pretty calm about it. In the first season, there was a gap and probably not that intensity about it. Last season, there was a gap again but this year it’s closer.

“That’s great for the league. It shows the other teams have improved. It doesn’t mean we’ve got worse. Okay, we maybe lost certain key players but we are still playing at a really good level.

“If we win on Wednesday, we go six points clear with a good goal difference. Our mantra has always been to concentrate on the next game.

“When we were 20 points away, I was never too carried away and it never lessened by intensity in training or for the games. That’s been one of the key facets to our mentality.

“The ego can be the enemy for teams. You do well and think you’re fine - no chance. You’ve got to get to second balls, you’ve got to press the game, you’ve got to work hard. Then your quality will come through.

“Hopefully people have seen that mentality and relentlessness in this team. It’s always there. Sometimes we won’t play well but we never go into any game thinking we can just turn up. That will be the case on Wednesday night.”

While the main wish in this window was for a right-back, the arrivals of Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah have given Celtic an added impetus up front, with Rodgers believing that competition for a starting jersey can be the ideal way to coax the best out of players.

“When we got to the Rangers game, we were playing Mikey [Johnston], bless him, up front,” said Rodgers. “He can do that well in certain games but in the big games, where the quality can make the difference, for me it’s important (to strengthen in attack).

“We are a team who attacks well. We brought in three young players who can hopefully give us that and two of them have started really well.

“You need competition to maximise what you can get out of a player. That’s sometimes the greatest coach they can have - competition. The guy beside them who wants their shirt. We probably haven’t had that in certain areas.”