BRENDAN RODGERS, the Celtic manager, last night insisted all the pressure would be on Rangers in the Hogmanay derby match and even suggested the result was unimportant to his team given how far ahead they are at the top of the Premiership.
Celtic’s 2-0 win over Ross County meant, with Rangers dropping points at St Johnstone, the champions are 16 points clear of their city rivals with a game in hand; a feat the manager felt was “worthy” of what his players have given him so far this season.
Rodgers, who was understandably in good mood, claimed his team would be even better after the winter break, a galling prospect for the rest of the league.
The only negative was the confirmation that Tom Rogic, such an important player for Celtic in recent months, will miss Ibrox through injury.
Asked about Saturday’s match, Rodgers said: “It will be a battle. There is no doubt about that. It will be a tough game. There is huge pressure on them to get the result at home. For us, we have played in big games under pressure this season and dealt well with it, stayed calm and got the result. We know it will be tough and it’s a game we are looking forward to. It finishes off a remarkable first half of the season for us and we aim to go there and win.
“For us, it doesn’t matter what the result is on Saturday. We have had a fantastic start to the season and, irrespective of the result, we will be happy with our work. We will go away, rest and recover and come back even better for the second half of the season. But we are greedy. We want to win every game and that’s the attitude at the weekend.”
Celtic’s run has been remarkable. That is 23 domestic games which have come and gone and only Inverness have been able to stop the soon-to-be six in a row champions from winning.
Rodgers said: “It is recognising the players are worthy of being 16 points ahead. Their quality and mentality going into the games with real focus, and I thought we played well tonight. That’s eight games this month, seven wins and a draw in the Champions League, and you cannot ask any more of the team.
“The stats are good. It’s a great credit to Ronny Deila and the team before. They were here for the first six months of the year and can be proud of their work. But they players have taken the opportunity to be better and improve since I came in here,
“They amaze me in their mentality and are very much worthy of being 16 points clear at the top. It’s a remarkable feat of hard work, concentration, focus and quality. They are demonstrating that in every game and every week.”
Ross County didn’t do a lot wrong and Jim McIntyre, the manager, found it hard to find fault.
“If you come wide open they will slit your throat,” he said. “The quality they had on their bench tonight is the difference in Celtic from last year. There is no dilution of quality when they make a substitution.
‘It’s the same quality of player they are bringing on. It’s hard to deal with at times because it can really hurt you. But my players were fantastic in terms of how they battled for each other.”
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