Only goals missing, says Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic’s performance was every bit as good as the thrashing of the Ibrox men last month.

Despite the narrow scoreline, the Parkhead boss claimed his team was as dominant as the one he witnessed in the 5-1 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Mark Warburton’s men at Celtic Park.

“Yes, I think it was just the goals,” said Rodgers when asked if the performance had been the same as that at Parkhead.

“I think it was pretty clear. We had that same performance but we just didn’t finish the opportunities.

“Some of that was through the goalkeeper, (he) got a touch on to the bar and it came back to him.

“I need to see the header again but it looked very harsh, the one that was disallowed. When the ball comes in to the box both sets of players are physically trying to command that edge to get a touch on it.

“We had other chances that could have gone in but didn’t but again shows the mentality in the team, they kept going, didn’t get disappointed, had great discipline and eventually got reward which they deserved.”

Rodgers admitted some relief at getting the winner in the nervy closing stages.

He said: “Sometimes you never know, if the chances don’t go in and you don’t get that little bit of luck you are always vulnerable to a counter attack.”

Gers manager Warburton considered the game as evidence that his side are not so far behind Celtic.

He said: “We’ve worked very hard to move forward and gel as a team and I hope you saw that today.

“They scored one goal and we didn’t – that’s the difference. They took one chance right at the death there.

“It was that type of game where one chance would change it. It was nip and tuck with chances at both ends and that one went in. It was as simple as that.

“The so-called gap is a lot narrower than people think and we have to learn from today’s performance.

“We spoke to you guys (media) after Parkhead and said the only solution is to work hard and we’ve done that.”

…youare always vulnerable to a counter attack. BRENDAN RODGERS