Brendan Rodgers: Rangers’ Scottish Premiership lapses ‘irrelevant’ for Celtic boss

Manager Brendan Rodgers has warned Celtic cannot afford to “soften up” after Rangers’ surprise league lapses.

Celtic also have a five-goal advantage and will be at home in the final Old Firm derby of the Premiership campaign.

“Our focus has always been on ourselves – we can only do our work,” Rodgers said.

“You can’t soften up, especially at this time, just because another team might have drawn or lost. That’s irrelevant.

“You have to perform and get the result. If you come off it against teams who are motivated and organised then they can give you a problem.”

Rodgers is preparing for Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Aberdeen before his team begin the league home stretch with a visit to Dundee on 28 April.

“It’s not how you start the marathon, it’s how you finish it,” he said. “For us, we are improving day by day, looking good on the field, still with lots of improvement to make.

“Performances in the main have been good. But still a long, long way to go in terms of the league.”

Celtic and Rangers have each dropped points in nine top-flight matches so far.

“You will not play 38 games at the very highest level,” Rodgers added. “You are going to have dips and waves, but your strength is how you shift that.

“The players have been absolutely brilliant. They have had to dig in at lots of moments and get results.

“We just chipped away and stayed focused on our game model and how we play – and, whenever influential players come back in, then all the pieces come together again and the fluidity of the team is much better.

“You can never have doubt and the more we work together, on and off the pitch, it all feels that everyone is on the same page.”