Rodgers: Celtic can’t ‘soften up’ in title race despite Rangers’ form

Brendan Rodgers is warning his players they cannot “soften” in the Scottish Premiership title race, despite holding a three-point lead over Rangers.

The Ibrox side’s failure to win any of their last three league matches has handed the advantage back to Celtic with five games remaining.

Philippe Clement’s side followed up their 3-3 draw against their rivals with a defeat at Ross County before a goalless draw at Dundee on Wednesday night.

But, despite Rangers’ drop in form, Rodgers is warning against complacency after the Hoops reclaimed their place at the top of the table.

“Our focus has always been on ourselves and I made that point to the players, irrespective of what way it goes for other teams,” he said.

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Celtic are three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership

“We can only do our work because you can’t soften up, especially at this time, because another team has drawn or lost because that’s irrelevant.

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

“For us, we have to continually focus on our own performance, irrespective of what happens elsewhere because we have to create our story and for that we have to work at it and, hopefully, that will be the storyline at the end of the season.”

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Rodgers won the Scottish Cup twice during his first spell at Celtic

Celtic’s focus now switches to the Scottish Cup and their semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Saturday.

Rodgers, who won the trophy twice during his first spell as Hoops boss, is looking forward to returning to the national stadium after a disappointing League Cup defence earlier in the season and is urging his players to show their best.

“Of course, there’s big anticipation and pressure but go and embrace that and look to perform,” added Rodgers who confirmed winger Daizen Maeda remains out with a hamstring problem.

“We respect Aberdeen, it hasn’t been a great season for them in terms of the league and changes of manager, but any semi-final is always a tough game.

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Daizen Maeda remains out with a hamstring problem

“We have to expect a tough game and any team that gets to a semi-final is there with an opportunity to get to a final, so I envisage Peter [Leven] and his team will look to take the opportunity.

“For us, our focus is on ourselves and looking at our own performance and our training this week has been really good.”

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