Rodgers wants cool heads as Celtic head for crucial Ibrox clash

Brendan Rodgers has called on his Celtic players to maintain cool heads when they run out at Ibrox for Sunday's showdown with cinch Premiership title rivals Rangers.

The Hoops are a point above Gers, who have a game in hand, so the outcome of this weekend’s derby is likely to have a significant bearing on the outcome of what is shaping up as the tightest championship race since the Light Blues’ financial implosion more than a decade ago.

However, Rodgers has told his players to focus fully on playing football and not the potential ramifications of victory or defeat.

"It starts with the whole build-up," said the Hoops boss. "I think it’s important not to get entrenched in the whole storyline because at times the storyline can be that 'it could a disaster’.

"But for me the storyline is that there is always opportunity. You arrive, you stay calm and you just look to focus on your performance.

"This is one of the greatest, most iconic games in world football but you’ve got to perform and you can only do that by staying calm and looking to play your football."

Rodgers – who has lost just one of his 16 matches against Rangers in his two stints as Celtic boss – insisted he has not given too much consideration to how any particular result at Ibrox might leave the title race.

"I haven’t over-thought it," he said. "I always prepare the team to win, I never think of drawing or losing a game. I always prepare the team to go and win the game and it’s served me well especially in these types of games.

"You can’t win them all, of course, but the mindset is to impose ourselves on the game and then let’s see where we are at at the end of it.

"I always feel really comfortable coming into these (Old Firm) games but that’s only on the back of