ERIK SVIATCHENKO was always going to stand apart from your typical footballer in that he and his brother write a blog on fashion focussing on the modern classicist style. Whatever that is.

Celtic’s Danish defender, the son of a conceptual artist don’t you know, is a bright sort and so it comes as no great surprise that he takes his profession a lot more seriously than many others.

His manager, Brendan Rodgers, revealed that Sviatchenko takes his work home with after every game and such dedication is a big reason why he and Jozo Simunovic have established such a strong central defence which could go nine hours without conceding at Fir Park today.

The pair have very different personalties and back-stories; however, they have clicked and right now Celtic are as strong as the back as they are at the other end of the park.

“It’s one that was going to be the partnership if both were fit and well,” revealed Rodgers. “I think Erik’s been brilliant as the season’s gone on – how he’s improving as a player and how he’s developing.

“He’s a boy that I’ve got huge admiration for. After every game he studies his own game and cuts how own parts – edits his own individual clips – and then comes to us. We then sit and look together. That’s learning.

"We sit and talk through his game - what he’s done well and what he can improve on so he can take it into the next game. So the improvement he’s making is because of him – because the environment is set up to be better.

“It’s brilliant. He's done that since he was in Denmark. It was part of what they did there, he's felt the benefits of it, and he's continued with it. Self-analysis is very important. Others will do it, look at things with the coaching staff.

"But Erik does his own, and that's what you want as a coach. You want players who think about the game. I'm lucky, I have a grip here who are really thirsty to learn.”

Sviatchenko’s form is not much of a surprise. He showed enough last season to more than suggest Celtic has got themselves a good defender but Simunovic was more of a mystery. When he did play last time out, the Croat looked the part. It’s just that he was either injured or just coming back from time on the sidelines.

“Jozo is one, I said at the time, who I hadn’t seen him play,” said Rodgers. “Not a lot of people had seen him play here. But I could just tell in training – I mentioned it a few months back – that he was a player.

“He’s 6ft 3in, fast, composed, aggressive. He’s still young. He’ll do something rash every now and then. He looks scary and he is. And we’ve got a great guy in Kolo Toure there in behind them who can shepherd them and talk to them. He uses all his experience.

"But those two are really strong. If they get the chance to play together consistently they give the team – along with the goalkeeper – a great backbone.

"Slowly it’s starting to turn for Jozo. He played in the game on the Wednesday and did very well. His knee was clean afterwards so he could play in the final. We’ve got a turnaround of Saturday, Tuesday and Friday. So we’ll monitor it whether he plays in the three or two of the three. But both of them have been very good.”

Celtic are good at the back, strong in midfield and have Leigh Griffiths, the most natural goalscorer in the country, struggling to get a game. Motherwell will give their all this afternoon but what they will hope for is a bit of complacency setting in.

“No chance,” said Rodgers when that scenario was put to him. “We’ve made a good start but we have been looking this week at how we can be better. We set out goals at the start of the season and those goals are not met after 11 games.

“We’ve got a series of targets we need to meet and to do that there are certain facets we need to improve. This is about raising the standard of everything - on and off the field - and to do that you keep chipping away every day.

“If you want to be complacent then you won’t be here. You are only here if you want to be better.”