Callum McGregor. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Q: His leadership skills and his experience in this fixture as well are always key, aren’t they?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, they always are. He’s been absolutely outstanding in all the games I can remember that I’ve played. He’s a fantastic player.”
Q: What sort of game are you expecting on Sunday? Obviously, theRangers went to extra time last night, a long shift for them. Does that come into your thinking about what kind of state they’ll be in come the game on Sunday?
Brendan Rodgers: “Not really. I think from our perspective, it’s about looking to play our game. Our game’s a running game, it’s a pressing game, it’s an intense game. So that’s what we want to play from the very first whistle. I don’t know theRangers squad, I don’t know the mentalities, but I know that obviously they got through their tie and they’ll come to us. As I said, it’s always a mental thing. I had a recent experience with my team at Leicester, where we played Manchester City on 26 December away. Peak Man City. And then on the 28th, virtually two days later, we played peak Liverpool. So it was as tough as you get. And the second game, whenever Liverpool had more rest coming into the game than ourselves, we had virtually no rest going into the game. We won the game 1-0. So physically, of course, it’s exhausting and it’s tiring. But you come into Celtic Rangers game, it’s about your mentality as well.”
Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on February 15, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: Is that where you always need to be wary? Because some people might point to Rangers and say that they may look tired, but you talk about the adrenaline, the lift they’ve had from being able to get through to the Europa League quarter-finals, could well carry them through, along with the occasion of the game on Sunday?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, well, that’s our job, not to ensure that that happens. Like every team, we have to make it really, really difficult for (the)Rangers coming to the game. These are games to really enjoy and go and perform. We never performed anywhere near what the demand of the game was in the last game. So, we’re very hungry to put that right in this game.”
Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers applauds on the touchline at Celtic Park Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Gas Scottish Cup, Quarter Final, Celtic Park,- 09 March 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock
Q: In terms of your analysis this week, did you reflect on that Ibrox game at all? In terms of showing the players a little reminder of where it can go wrong?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, I think we were pretty clear after it at that time. And I think you only need to see the response. At that time, we were 14 points clear. The response from that game puts us at 16 points clear. So, the response to that defeat was very, very good. Like I said, it was foreign for me because I never experienced that with my teams before in this game. It was more the response to going behind. We didn’t respond to that. You can always go behind in games. Things don’t go your way in a game. But Rangers were a better team on that day. So, we have to accept that. We’ve responded really, really well. And now you get the chance to build on the lead that we have by performing.”
