BRENDAN RODGERS has told his Celtic players to park any thoughts about Saturday’s clash against Rangers, and ensure they go into that match with momentum by focusing solely on getting a result at Dundee.
The champions travel to Dens Park this afternoon looking to build upon their win over Livingston at the weekend, a victory that ended a streak of two Premiership defeats.
Rodgers is desperate for his team to go into the Old Firm fixture at Celtic Park with the wind still in their sails, but he knows the only way they will be able to do so is by giving Tony Docherty’s side their full focus.
“It’s so far away [the Rangers game],” Rodgers said.
“Next weekend, these are always great games, but for us as managers, coaches, players, the focus is purely on Dundee.
“We’ll recover, train and travel – going up there looking to get three points.
“It’s a big part of coming to Celtic, being able to be involved in such an iconic game. But there is no time to think. You always just have to think about the next game.
“As boring as that might sound, you just have to focus on the next performance. We’ll look to maintain a performance level and take that into the Dundee game.
“Once it’s done, we can get ready for next weekend.
“I think the next three games are clearly important for us. December can always be a grind. It can be a real grind of a month with lots of games.
“You want the tempo and intensity. That’s been hard for us at times, purely because a lot of the same players are having to play. We’ve not been able to jig it about.
“Against Livingston, the guys responded really well and we want to keep that going into the next game.
“I’ve always enjoyed going to Dundee. The team has always played well and worked well there. The pitch is nice and big, which suits how we want to play, so we’ll go there looking to win.”
The Celtic players were given Christmas Eve off to spend time with their families before training later on Christmas Day, though they may have harboured hopes of getting even more time off given that Dundee’s home game against Aberdeen on Saturday was controversially postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Rodgers though is leaving nothing to chance, and has prepared his men not only as though the game will definitely go ahead, but for a tough test against the Premiership’s seventh-placed side.
“I think they trained on it, didn’t they?” he said.
“Listen, Tony has done a very good job there. He’s been a coach around the game for a long time and it’s great to see him get that opportunity to manage. He’s done an excellent job.
“Whatever the pitch looks like, we’ll prepare for a tough game. We saw that when we played them earlier in the season.
“Even though we won convincingly in the end, it was a tough game, so we’ll prepare for the same.”
