Brendan Rodgers warns Celtic not to 'soften up' despite big gap at top of Scottish Premiership

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has warned his players will not "soften up" ahead of their trip to Ibrox as he dismissed the relevance of their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The champions go into Thursday's derby 14 points clear of their city rivals after Rangers dropped points at St Mirren and Motherwell last week.

Philippe Clement and his Rangers players have come under fire from supporters but Rodgers stressed a winning mentality and culture that restricted his team to two defeats in 2024 would ensure they prepare in the right manner for the game.

"Listen, we will always assume the pressure," the Antrim man said. "We put ourselves under pressure in every game to win and to win well. So nothing changes in this aspect.

"We always stay in a humble way to prepare for games. People look at the gap, but that doesn't even come into it. We cannot soften up, we will not soften up.

"We perform for the next game because we know how much this game means to people.

"I went there last season, the first game, under pressure and all the things. Now I go there with 14 points... but there's no change for us, the mentality is to go and perform and look to play our game.

"That pressure will always be there and especially a game at Ibrox with no supporters."

After growing up in a Celtic-supporting family in Country Antrim, Rodgers knows how much the fixture means to supporters regardless of the context of the league table.

"I understand the game - I understood it as a supporter - and I understood it from the first game I had as manager in September 2016," he said. "I've enjoyed every single one of them. The build-ups to them are always great.

"There's always pressure of some sort. I hear the talk about a 'dead rubber'. There is never