Celtic: Brendan Rodgers dismisses Old Firm proposal as ‘dead rubber’

“Here you are judged at this level, working at Celtic or Rangers – I think you are judged by these games. I saw Giovanni van Bronckhorst reach the final of Europe and then lose his job shortly after because he lost he’s at Celtic.”

Rodgers will be looking to improve on the performance in the recent Premier Sports Cup final, when Celtic won but were run out by Rangers until they lost on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Hampden.

“It’s a big measure here for any manager and I know it, I always have,” he said of Old Firm derbies. “Winning against your biggest rivals is very important and the development of your club is important.

“You want to win every game and you want to perform at the best level. For me, I love the occasion, I love the game – it’s an iconic game and one I always want to win.”

“I have players who know what this game means, and they know what it takes to win, and they – like me – are committed to delivering that.”

Celtic captain Callum McGregor says they hope to learn from the impending final at Hampden.

“We have another look at the game and see where we can be better, areas we can exploit and try and cause these problems,” he said.

“The important thing in cup finals is to go through it and win then you can clean up the little details when you come to the next game. I think we have done that since the game.

“We want to do better than we did in the cup final, impose ourselves on the game and we did better than the last.

“It’s a derby game, you want to win, so wherever you are in the table, everyone wants to win.”