Brendan Rodgers has warned Rangers that his Celtic side will be primed and ready for their meeting next week, after saying that the Ibrox side ‘stole our game’ in their emphatic win in the New Year derby between the Glasgow rivals.
Rodgers believes that his team were off the pace in that January fixture, with the greater intensity shown by Rangers a key factor in their 3-0 victory.
The Celtic manager has vowed that will not happen again, and with a free week to prepare for next Sunday’s game after the Scottish Cup quarter final win over Hibernian today, he is confident that Rangers will face a much more formidable task this time around.
“Listen, we were well beat on the day,” Rodgers said.
“Rangers stole our game that day. That's normally how we play and what we do, but they took it from us and deserved the win. But we will be ready for the demands of that game.
“I said before I'd never had the team really like that in any of those games. So, the demands that are needed to play in that game, we will be ready for them next week like we were in the first game.
“We can recover now. That was a really good performance [against Hibs]. Obviously, we're at home and we love playing here. We want to attack the game.
“Rangers are a really good opponent, so we have to be aware of the counterattack. We'll prepare that throughout the week.”
Rodgers admits he can’t predict what changes new Rangers interim boss Barry Ferguson may make to his side’s approach for the clash next weekend, but reiterated the need for Celtic to be on their guard against their ability to break quickly, as they did to such good effect against Fenerbahce on Thursday evening.
“I'm not sure, I'm not sure,” he said.
“I think when I analyse Rangers, I see a team that is still doing what they've done all season. Been very good in Europe, probably a wee bit inconsistent domestically. But the strength of the team is in counterattack. It's not when teams are camped in and connecting the game. So, we have to be mindful of that.
“Barry will come with passion and professionalism and wanting to get a result here. But I do as well. So, it will be a great game. We'll look forward to it. And when it arrives, it will be brilliant.”
The Celtic players will also be looking to atone for their role in that defeat, Rodgers believes, after being ‘soft’ in the game at Ibrox.
“You want to win every game,” he said.
“That's always our mindset and especially those games. We've won those well and not always playing brilliant football all the time. But on that day, maybe because we were 14 points clear and we're in a good position in the league, it just maybe softened us up a wee bit.
“But definitely we didn't meet the demands of what you need in that game and how my teams play with intensity and physicality. So, now we arrive in this game in an even better place than what we were there. But we will be in a different way and sometimes you need that.
“Sometimes you need that setback to make you think that you have to do the work. And these players, I have to say, what they've given over the course of this season, the demands that they've met at every level, the consistency, the mentality, the professionalism, the quality has put us in this amazing position with a semi-final now to look forward to and nine games left in the league.”
Both of Rodgers’ senior strikers scored to down Hibs to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, with Daizen Maeda breaking the deadlock before Adam Idah came off the bench to wrap up the victory in stoppage time, but it seems that the Celtic manager is clear in his head about who will lead the line for the game against Rangers.
“There's no headache,” he said.
“I sleep well, my friend. I sleep very well.
“I know the players have been great. They've been really, really good for me. I'll pick what I think is the best team and then know that at some point we'll need other players to come into the game.
“It's absolutely great if those guys that are paid to score goals and create goals are doing it. Daizen's anticipation for the first goal is incredible, really. The ground he makes up in such a short space, if you look at when he moves, the distance in such a short space he makes over the centre-half to get the finish was great.
“Then Adam coming in, I know what he can bring. He can bring goals. He can give us that physicality when we need it. We could have had a few more in the last 10 minutes.”
