RODGERS IS RELYING ON PAYBACK IN HIGHLANDS

LOOKING back, it almost constitutes a crisis. Fresh from a 7-0 thrashing in Barcelona, Celtic travelled to the Highlands and conceded a late equaliser to draw with Inverness Caley Thistle.

Five months on, those dropped points remain the only blemish on Celtic’s Premiership record under Brendan Rodgers and, with the League Cup already gleaming in the boardroom and a Scottish Cup quarter-final to come next weekend, an unbeaten domestic campaign is a possibility.

The runaway league leaders return to the Caledonian Stadium on Wednesday.

‘You’ll always look back on the matches where you feel you could have done better and, of all the domestic games we’ve had, that was the one where we gave it away late on,’ said Rodgers.

‘At that time they were in a good moment and we were on the back of a 7-0 defeat. We played very badly in the first half but in the second half we were brilliant and how we didn’t win is beyond me.’

Rodgers views complacency as a contagion and has therefore been heartened at how his players have remained relentless in their pursuit of points.

‘With the comfort we’ve had in terms of points, we could have slipped up but that’s never been the case. We’ve been very focused and we’re a very ambitious group to do well,’ he said.

‘It’s not just for this season, we’re preparing and developing something for a number of years.’

Rodgers concedes Celtic’s unbeaten run will come to an end at some point but is constantly working on training-ground routines that will allow his players to respond to adversity.

‘We create moments in our training exercises where we are down in a game,’ he explained. ‘Your opponent is up, so how do you cope, how do you respond, in what way does the dynamic of the game change?

‘We also train with 10 v 11. In order to find solutions to different pressures that may come, I always think of three key words: Anticipate, Anticipate, Anticipate.

‘Depressurise, so you can stay calm. There is no one in the world, I don’t care who you are, who performs well under big pressure.

‘Listen, we will lose a game, for sure. What we have to do is just resist as much as we possibly can.’