BRENDAN Rodgers last night hailed his Celtic players' big game mentality after an emphatic 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie took them to the verge of equalling a 100-year-old British record.
A first half Kieran Tierney goal and the second Moussa Dembele double in the space of five days secured a one-sided triumph for Rodgers's men.
The victory has sent the Parkhead club three points clear of their nearest challengers at the head of the Ladbrokes Premiership table after 10 games.
It also extended their unbeaten domestic run to 61 games - just one shy of the record set by Willie Maley's legendary Celtic team between 1915 and 1917.
They will equal their illustrious predecessors' mark if they beat Kilmarnock in a league game at Celtic Park on Saturday.
"We should have scored more, but how we defended and pressed was a wonderful demonstration of football," said Rodgers.
"Over the course of the time here, the 16 months, what I’ve been pleased about is the mentality of them in the big games.
"Every game is a big game, but when you come away to a place like this you’ve got to show you’re a big team and they did that this evening.
"I hear a lot about the ease at which Celtic do it. But you have to give credit to our players, they have the courage to go into position to accept the ball.
"That can drag a team about. When you play to that speed and quality it’s very hard sometimes to get there. If you have control and you can dominate you have chances to score. It wasn’t necessarily what Aberdeen didn’t do."
Asked about the British record his Celtic side is poised to match this weekend, Rodgers said: "I wasn’t aware of that.
We’ve always focused on the next game.
"The only time this was mentioned was when the record was 26 and we could we beat it. Once we got over the line we focused on the next game. To have no complacency and to win.
"That’s what they’ve done. It’s an incredible credit to the players and staff for the mentality to work like that. We come back in the early hours from games and they want to work the next day.
"I give them a free day, but they come in. It tells you about the winning mentality and how hard they’re working."
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