Brendan Rodgers names the Celtic 'trepidation' he instantly spotted and hoodoo that has been left behind

Brendan Rodgers admits it felt like there was a hoodoo around Hampden when he arrived for his first spell as Celtic boss. Now the national stadium feels like home from home.

The Hoops boss is gearing up for his 10th visit to Mount Florida and having banished those south side sweats in the famous Invincible Treble campaign, he has yet to taste defeat on the hallowed turf. Rodgers take pride in the immaculate record and he has no intention of surrendering it Saturday's lunchtime Scottish Cup semi showdown with Aberdeen.

Hampden has got a special place in the Irishman’s heart – but it didn’t always feel that way. When Rodgers rolled into town in the summer of 2016, the Old Lady hadn’t always been kind to Celtic. There are cup wins in there but there had also been the Scottish Cup last four defeat to Mark Wartburton’s Rangers, the Inverness Caley Thistle loss, previous sore ones against Kilmarnock and St Mirren.

The talk back then was Hampden being a problem place for the Hoops – until Rodgers practically set up camp there. The Parkhead gaffer said: “It's nice to know that (record) and hopefully it continues. I just sensed a wee bit of trepidation around it when I first came in, with the players and even staff, from everything that had happened for the team there.

“I felt it leading into that first League Cup semi-final. But if you're going to become winners, we've got to start enjoying it.

"You enjoy it by playing well and winning. So that's always been my focus getting to these games – looking to perform. Of course, there's big anticipation around them and there’s big pressure. But go and embrace that and look to perform.

“In the end, any time I've won there, I've always felt the team has really performed to a really high