Brendan Rodgers insists his focus is firmly on Celtic’s progress, dismissing concerns over Rangers’ struggles after his side’s 2-0 win over Dundee.
Rodgers shuffled his squad at Parkhead, giving fringe players a chance to impress. However, Dundee held firm, keeping the game goalless at half-time and well into the second half, forcing Rodgers to call on some of his regulars from the bench.
The substitutions paid off, with Alistair Johnston making an immediate impact by scoring his second goal in as many games. Arne Engels later converted a penalty to secure the three points and maintain Celtic’s push at the top of the Premiership.
The victory keeps Celtic level on points with Aberdeen, who also remain in fine form. Meanwhile, the pressure is mounting on Rangers as their 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie widened the gap between the two Glasgow rivals to nine points.
Philippe Clement’s side has now suffered consecutive league defeats, with a 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock compounding their misery.
Rangers’ hopes of a title challenge are rapidly fading, and they face a crucial clash with Aberdeen once more, this time in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
Speaking to Sportsound after Celtic’s ninth win in ten league matches, Rodgers reiterated that his focus lies solely with his own squad, rather than events at Ibrox.
“My only focus is on ourselves, looking at us improving our performance level as we go through the season,” Rodgers said.
“We should have won against Aberdeen, we went a bit slack, but we’ll learn from that. I’m really pleased with the squad, we’ve been fantastic with lots of improvements to make.”
Looking ahead to the semi-final, Rodgers expressed confidence in his team’s preparations.
“It was a really good game against them here [at Celtic Park]. We’ll be ready for that, we love going to Hampden. We’re in a good place, getting players back, so we’ll be ready.”
With Celtic building momentum and Rangers faltering, the Hoops look well-placed to strengthen their grip on the league and advance in the cup.