Brendan Rodgers responds to Rangers wobble as Celtic boss revs up for run in

Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic can’t “soften up” after rivals Rangers’ recent struggles as he vowed the champions will put the foot down in their bid for a sprint finish to the season.

The Hoops go into Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final showdown against Aberdeen looking to move a step closer to defending the trophy they won last season as part of a Treble. Celtic have also moved into pole position for a third consecutive Scottish Premiership crown with a three-point lead at the summit.

Their position at the top of the table has been strengthened by Rangers picking up just one point from a possible six in two games in hand they had over their rivals and Philippe Clement’s Light Blues, also in semi-final action against Hearts on Sunday, have won just two games out of eight in all competitions. And from feeling the heat himself at times this season, the focus has switched to his rival.

But the Irishman said: “We haven’t won anything yet. We can only do our work because you can’t soften up, especially at this time, just because another team might have drawn, lost or whatever. That’s irrelevant. You have to perform and get the result because if you come off it against team who 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 that hopefully will be the storyline come the end of the season.

“It’s not how you start the marathon it’s how you finish it and for us we’re improving day by day, looking good on the field, with still lots of improvements to make and performances in the main have been good but still a long way to go in terms of