No nerves in Celtic's history bid says Patrick Roberts

Patrick Roberts sacrificed the chance to play for England in the Under-20 World Cup finals. Picture: John Devlin.

Brendan Rodgers’ side are just three games away from becoming the first team to complete a domestic season undefeated in all competitions since organised league football began in Scotland 127 years ago.

The Scottish champions have two Premiership fixtures remaining, at Partick Thistle on Thursday night and then Hearts at Celtic Park on Sunday, before they look to complete the domestic treble in the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden on 27 May.

Winger Roberts, who helped Celtic reach the 100-point mark in the league with their 3-1 win over the Dons at Pittodrie on Friday night, insists the scale of the potential achievement within their grasp will not mess with the heads of his team-mates.

“I don’t think it fazes us,” said Roberts. “We go on to the pitch and we want to play the best we possibly can and improve. We want to get better every game and it doesn’t faze us, making history. We just want to play well. That proves we’re a top side and just want to get better.

“Potentially, yeah, making history [might freak out some teams]. But for us we’ve been the same since we started the season against Hearts.

“We’ve taken every game as the same and we go into the next two similar and then  the cup final itself. It’s a good two weeks to come and we’re looking forward to it.”

Roberts has sacrificed the chance to play for England in the Under-20 World Cup finals in South Korea this month in order to be a part of Celtic’s history-making bid. The on-loan Manchester City player has no doubts it is the right decision.

“I think England can understand the circumstances,” added Roberts. “To make history at this club, not many players get to do that. So I think they understand. I have my reasons and they’ve got a big enough squad and a strong enough squad to go and win it anyway. All the best to them. It was a massive decision between Celtic and England. But the best decision happened and I’m more than happy to play in the cup final.”

Celtic stunned Aberdeen with three goals in the first 11 minutes at Pittodrie on Friday, before Jonny Hayes pulled one back for the home side who remained highly competitive for the rest of the match.

“It was a good three points for us,” reflected Roberts. “We started strong and got three good goals. It was a tough battle and in the end we defended well and got the three points which is all that really matters

“We knew we were going to start strong and after the third goal went in, we thought it would be good night. But obviously, top team that Aberdeen are, second in the table, they put up a good fight. They tested us and we did well and we defended well.

“We know what we can do. The main thing for us is to keep mentally strong and focused on the games and when the cup final comes, we’ll get to it. We’ll just worry about the next two league games we’ve got coming.

“The manager says that teams want to beat us and wait for us to slip up rather than try and beat us. If we don’t do that, we know our game, and we know we’ll come out with the best result. For us it’s just staying mentally focused and prepared and going into every game how we have this season and coming out with the result.

“It can be all about the mind. If you worry about it too much, you can let it get to you and your emotions, but we’ve been resilient this year and been mentally strong. We’ll turn up for the cup final and we’ll be positive and confident and best prepared as possible. We’ll go into it strong and that’s all we can do.”