“When we have the supporters with us it’s a real force at Celtic,” Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers spoke exclusively to Celtic TV today and revealed his excitement ahead of this weekend’s fixture against theRangers…

Brendan Rodgers is no stranger to these affairs and has jousted with the newest Ibrox club on many occasions. He won the first Glasgow Derby match of the season right in their back yard and had been repeatedly told by the media that his team were done for.

However, Brendan being Brendan pulled a rabbit out of the hat that day in Govan when a depleted Celtic side battled hard and boxed clever to win 1-0 through a magnificent Kyogo Furuhashi goal. Liam Scales was forged in fire that afternoon too and it paved the way for his meteoric rise to Celtic first-team regular after time in the wilderness on loan up at Pittodrie with Aberdeen.

IMAGO / Shutterstock Photo by Kirk O Rourke/Shutterstock Liam Scales of Celtic clears from Cyriel Dessers of theRangers during the Scottish Premiership match at Ibrox on 03 Sep 2023

The team hasn’t been at it’s best in the first half of the season and has managed throw away an eight-point lead in the past few weeks. Rodgers has stopped that rot though and now has the chance to extend that lead from five to eight-points once more this coming Saturday.

Looking ahead to the clash, the Irishman, as reported by the official club website said: “They are going very well. We’re obviously off the back of a really good performance and result against Dundee, so we feel ready and obviously we’ll put our final preparations in place. I’m really excited about the game.”

On the prospect of a full-house of just Celtic supporters this weekend, he added: “That is the synergy of this club, that connection between the support and the players. When we have the supporters with us it’s a real force at Celtic and we’ll want that, of course, at the weekend.

“And I know we’ll get it because this is a fixture that the supporters will look forward to. We had a great result at Ibrox, a good performce there and now we’re at home in front of our own supporters and hopefully we can produce another good performance and result.”

The boss recognised the importance of getting back to winning ways with consecutive victories over Livingston and Dundee – both of whom play with a dreadful low-block – lately too.

“It was, but for me it was also about the performance levels which were more where I would want them to be,” he said. “In the Livingston game we had lots of pressure, scored goals and had other chances. But, importantly, we virtually didn’t give anything away and the same with Dundee. Dundee away on Boxing Day, it’s always going to be a challenging game, they’ve had a very, very good season, but we totally dominated the game.

“We suffocated the pitch, created lots of opportunities, scored three really good goals.From a performance perspective the last two were much more where I want us to be. I think when you work as hard as the team do and have done, then it bodes well that when you get that success, the confidence will come. It’s all based around the performance. You know when you’ve played well and I think over the last couple of games, the tempo’s brought more intensity to our game. And when we play to that level, we can win many games.”

With the team showing there’s goals in it all over the pitch again, Brendan insists it is welcome to see the Bhoys firing on all cylinders once again. He even reserved a special mention for Paulo Bernardo and Mikey Johnston, who has really struggled at times to cement himself as a Celtic player.

“It’s very important,” he added. “I’ve always been a coach that has wanted goals from every department in the team. You can’t rely on one player to be scoring 30 or 40 goals a season, because what happens if he gets injured? He’s out, so for me the importance of wide players, midfield players, centre-halves and full-backs chipping in, it all adds to where you want to get to.

“So for Paulo, I was delighted for him. He’s come in here with a great attitude, whether he’s played or whether he hasn’t played, but I think we’ve seen him grow and develop the longer he’s been here and understands how we’re trying to play. And he got his reward for that the other night.

“I’m absolutely delighted for him, and Mikey has those qualities.You saw him come off the bench and he makes a real impact. He has a goal in him, he’s a really good finisher when he gets in. It didn’t surprise me him coming off and getting the goals, but it’s always nice for him because I know it’s been a few years since he scored for Celtic, so it was a nice evening for him.”

Paul Gillespie

🗣 "We feel ready and obviously we’ll put our final preparations in place but we’re really excited about the game"

📺 @CelticTV sat down with manager Brendan Rodgers ahead of the clash with Rangers.

Subscribe below to watch in FULL👇#CELRAN | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 28, 2023