Celtic will treat Gers with every respect

Boss Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic will treat Rangers with the same respect shown for every opponent as he cast aside memories of the Ibrox players cheering the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final draw.

Gers boss Graeme Murty revealed his players had given a loud welcome to being paired with their rivals, a week before they lost 3-2 at home to 10-man Celtic in the league to leave them without a win in nine Old Firm games

When asked if the memory would be etched on Celtic’s minds ahead of Sunday’s Hampden clash, Rodgers said: “No, it is probably something etched on Rangers’ minds because this is the game that they were cheering for.

“For us we always respect every opponent we play and just get ready for the game.”

The Northern Irishman, who revealed Stuart Armstrong’s calf injury would be assessed, added: “One of the values of this club is about humility and we respect every opponent we play, whether it is Rangers, Hibs, Aberdeen, Ross County, whoever, we always have the same respect and we just prepare for the game.”

Rodgers believes Celtic’s 3-2 victory at Ibrox, where the home side led twice and the Hoops finished the game a man down after defender Jozo Simunovic was red-carded for using his elbow, will have hit the Govan club hard.

He said: “We will see. It will have been a difficult one to take.

“If you look at everything going into the game, this was going to be the moment that you win the game.

“You are up twice in the game against an opponent that is down to 10 men, you have your home support behind you so they are difficult ones to take but that is not only from my perspective.

“Graeme had mentioned that himself, that probably the effects of that game were much greater than what he would have felt at the time. So that’s from within the Rangers camp, not so much us.”

Meanwhile, Graeme Murty admits Rangers could not compete with Hamburg’s offer for David Bates.

The 21-year-old left the Ibrox faithful stunned on Thursday when it was announced he had agreed a four-year deal to join the Bundesliga side this summer.

Gers had been hoping to reward the former Raith Rovers centre-back with a new contract following a string of solid displays put in before he suffered an ankle injury in last month’s defeat to Celtic.

“We were in negotiations with David and wanted him to stay – but Hamburg have come along and made an offer we can’t match,” said Murty.

“David has thought about his career and decided to take them up on that offer.”

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers says his players respect every opponent they face. Picture: SNS.