Brendan Rodgers dismissed the dead-rubber narrative around the final Glasgow Derby of the season, insisting that there’s always something at stake when the two Glasgow tribes go to war...
Having won the first two Glasgow Derbies of the season, the score has been levelled since the New Year with theRangers running out comfortable 3-0 winners in January under Philippe Clement before interim Ibrox boss Barry Ferguson ‘masterminded’ a shock 3-2 victory at Celtic Park last month.
Celtic secured the Scottish Premiership at Tannadice last weekend
In both these league matches Celtic had such a big lead in the table that there was no real significance as far as the destination of the league title is concerned and with the league being officially won last weekend with a 5-0 win away at Dundee United, Celtic go to Ibrox 17 points ahead of theRangers, despite them taking six points from the last two games against the Champions.
There’s nothing meaningless about this fixture, it means plenty to everyone inside Ibrox tomorrow and the millions around the world watching on television screens.
“I hear the talk up here about meaningless games”
“You have to know that I hear the talk up here about meaningless games, there’s never that,” Brendan Rodgers said at his pre-match media conference.
“A Celtic theRangers game, there’s never a meaningless game or there’s nothing in the game, there’s everything in this game, everything. So we have to go and prove that on the field.
“Yes, we are champions, the best team, the most consistent team, the mentality, Champions League progression, all of this here but these are important games,” the Celtic manager stated.
Brendan continued: “So the messaging, no, our preparation has been really good, we had a little hiccup against St. Johnstone, from that you see the reaction, the players have been brilliant.
“I always think now at this stage of the season, we’ve set targets, we’ve set goals for the last five games and the cup final, we’re also preparing for next season. We’re trying to look to finish strong so we can prepare for that as well.”
With Jota now out for the season and Alistair Johnston missing with a hip issue, Rodgers is likely to star with this team at Ibrox tomorrow in the Noon kick-off.
Predicted Celtic team for Ibrox ‘dead-rubber’
Vinisalo; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor(c), Engels, Hatate; Forrest, Idah, Maeda.
COYBIG
Listen to Brendan Rodgers’ media conference below…
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Certainly not the best team in our history, but may well be the oldest