Celtic wind up for final Rangers title haymaker as Brendan Rodgers claims critics ignore underlying factor

With his full squad back and strong position in league, Celtic can stand on finishing line should they beat Rangers

One more punch is required, this Saturday lunchtime at Parkhead. If Celtic can find the knock-out blow across 90-plus minutes of the latest Old Firm bout, then they will have one hand on the cinch Premiership title. With just three rounds of fixtures remaining in the Premiership, Brendan Rodgers’ men lead Rangers by three points with a superior goal difference by five. A victory would make it almost impossible for Rangers to recover.

In an enthralling title race that has fluctuated over the past few months, Celtic are back in the box seat. When the two teams met last month at Ibrox to play out a gripping 3-3 draw, it was the other way around. Rangers were in the ascendancy, rejuvenated by their new Belgian coach Philippe Clement. Rodgers, for the first time in his Celtic tenure, had lost his cloak of invincibility, his status as top dog under threat. But since that afternoon in Govan, Rangers have dropped points. Despair in Dingwall and at Dens Park. Celtic have won every match.

Knowing how to win a title counts for so much. Rodgers has three Premiership crowns under his belt from his previous spell as Celtic boss. Within his ranks he has winners scattered across his playing and backroom team. Captain Callum McGregor and James Forrest have won more trophies than they have fingers. Goalkeeper Joe Hart has won the mother of all title battles in England. From last season’s championship-winning squad, Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Greg Taylor, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi remain. Even when the chips were down, Celtic could call upon muscle memory.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers knows that time is running out for Rangers to catch his team in the title race.

Rodgers was in relaxed mood as he met the press on Friday afternoon. He was asked about his past successes. “It's a culture and an environment that's created here,” he said. “There's winning, but the build-up to how you win is important and that obviously breeds confidence. I think what really helps is the fact that when I'm here, along with myself, I look around the team and I look at the staff and there's players here and people here that have done it. They understand what it takes. Callum McGregor. James Forrest. Some of the other guys who've been here for a few years and have done it. John Kennedy on the staff. Stevie Woods on the staff. That gives you that confidence and understanding of what it takes. When you have that, you can approach this with a calmness that allows you to focus on the performance and not get too carried away with all the noise.”

It wasn’t always this serene. In fact, Rodgers has done well to ride out a spell of extreme turbulence. As Rangers were improving, Celtic were regressing. While results were not terminally bad, performance levels had dipped. But there was a big mitigating circumstance: injuries. Hatate, such a key man in midfield, has been dogged by muscle injuries until finally returning to full health six weeks ago. Carter-Vickers is so often seen as Celtic’s cheat code in defence but on the back of last summer’s knee surgery, he has had hamstring issues. McGregor suffered an Achilles problem in the spring and missed a 2-0 defeat by Hearts. All these players will play against Rangers. Celtic’s spine is back in place.

“I think it’s one that you have to back yourself in that moment,” said Rodgers as he looked back on the tough times. “You know that performance-wise and at time results-wise it wasn’t what we would have liked or wanted but you have to stay focussed, stay calm. I think the whole underlying thing that I was fully aware of, that lots of people maybe were but didn’t want to say, the principle difference was personnel. We had really important players missing.

“When you have players of that ilk who can really affect the performance of the team and they are not there … the football looks different. Whether people didn’t want to admit that or didn’t see it, whatever it was, we certainly were not at the level we are at now. But importantly it was a case of staying with it, the players were brilliant in the whole process. They had belief in what they were doing. They are such a humble and honest group. It was a case of chipping away then when we get to a stage where those players are back, the football then starts to shine. In the last performance against Hearts [a 3-0 win], that’s more like I would have expected if the team was fit and available for most of the season. The consistency, the directness, speed, the tempo, the quality – all those aspects were there in the game. Let’s hope we can finish that way with those players fit and the football can shine for us then.”

Rodgers will be able to pick his strongest team against Rangers, with midfielder Reo Hatate one of those players now fully fit.

Most onlookers have Celtic down for a victory, given their strong record over Rangers at home and their recent propensity to overcome their bitter rivals even in times of strife. It is Hearts, not Rangers, who have given Rodgers and Co the bloodiest of noses this season, beating them twice. Even in Celtic’s darkest hours, they have not succumbed to Clement. Roared on by 60,000 fans inside an ultra-intimidating Celtic Park, it is all set up for them to stand on the finishing line.

“Sometimes it hasn’t been perfect,” Rodgers admitted. “The reality is that it doesn’t have to be perfect in football. You just have to try to get better every single day, in every single game, and that can take you to where you want I get to. That’s how it’s worked out for us. We still have a massive job to do, starting tomorrow.”