Ex-Hoops stars Charlie Nicholas and Roy Keane are among a number of pundits who put the boot in after Tuesday’s home loss to Anderlecht.

Although Rodgers acknowledged the display was below par, he felt his players deserved immense credit for finishing third in their group to make it through to the Europa League.

“It wasn’t the best way to get the outcome we wanted, but we still got the outcome we wanted,” said the Northern Irishman ahead of the clash with Hibs at Easter Road tomorrow. 

“We were the only team to qualify out of all the teams that went down the champions qualifying route [domestic champions who did not qualify directly for the group stage].

“Unfortunately we get measured against teams like PSG and Bayern Munich – that’s where a lot of the criticism comes from. 

“But if you look at the teams we should be measured against, like Ajax, they did not even qualify.

“Anderlecht are on virtually double our budget. Borussia Dortmund qualified for the Europa League with two points and they are a massive club with a big budget.

“Benfica are challenging again for the Portuguese league, with a far superior budget to ourselves, but they got no points.

“So for us to get through and qualify for the Europa League was a step forward. The reality of where we are, in terms of our standing in the real game – these players have done brilliantly.

“You have to reflect on where this team has come from 18 months ago – a team that had not qualified for the Champions League for three years and finished bottom of the Europa League with no wins.

“Within 18 months we have qualified for two Champions Leagues in difficult groups and taken a step into the Europa League with virtually the same group. 

“It’s easy to criticise. We lose 7-1 to PSG – one of the best teams in world football – and the group is told how bad they are, how bad the tactics were.

“Spartak Moscow lose seven goals in midweek and it’s not about how bad Spartak were, it’s about how good Liverpool were. And Liverpool were good!

“It’s unfortunate the world we live in is all about critics. But we can’t afford to let that shape us.”

Rodgers suggested his players came through tests of character that would have resulted in a different outcome under his predecessor Ronny Deila.

In last year’s Champions League play-off, Celtic held a 5-2 advantage against Hapoel Beer-Sheva from the first leg and only just scraped through after losing the return 2-0 in Israel.

At the same stage this year they almost threw away a 5-0 first-leg lead when Astana went 4-1 up in Kazakhstan, but the Hoops scored twice in the last 10 minutes to seal their passage to the group stage.

Rodgers added: “My staff tell me we have had three games that in the past we probably would have fallen away in.

“We lost 2-0 away to Beer-Sheva but got through. The Astana game could have got away from the team but we got through. And we got through against Anderlecht even though we were nowhere near our best and there was a nervousness. That shows the team and its resilience is improving.”

Rodgers expects Hibs to make life difficult for his Bhoys tomorrow.

He added: “They’re contenders for best of the rest.”