ARE YOU STILL GOING FOR 55?

BRENDAN RODGERS insists he won’t get fired up by Rangers’ fighting talk because he’s heard it all before.

The Ibrox club claimed they were “Going for 55” as they targeted the title after returning to the top flight under Mark Warburton.

But they ended the campaign in third, 39 points behind the

Hoops who claimed the Treble without losing a domestic game.

Warburton’s successor Pedro Caixinha also claimed he had the best squad in Scotland but was binned after a poor start to the current campaign.

So the Celtic boss has shrugged off the confident chat coming from the Gers camp ahead of tomorrow’s Old Firm clash. Rodgers – who has Stuart Armstrong and Dedryck Boyata back fit – is looking to go nine points clear at the top with a game in hand.

And he said: “I’m not one to look over the fence to see what the neighbour has because that’s irrelevant to us.

“They obviously feel really confident but we’ve been there before – when they were ‘Going for 55’. It is a similar feeling, a similar noise. If you have that expectancy, great, you have to go and deliver.

“So the focus is on ourselves. There’s no doubt Graeme Murty has done a good job in stabilising the team and giving them more of a British core.

“He has brought in one or two players who will work and run and some supporters of the club as well, for whom it will mean a bit more.

“So you can’t ignore that but it’s not a worry – you concentrate on bringing your best game.”

Rodgers also aimed a couple of thinly-veiled barbs across the city following Gers’ celebrations at landing the Hoops in the Scottish Cup semi-final draw.

He said: “You always have to be

careful what you wish for. The job is always to respect your opponent.

“Rangers have good players, they have a fanbase who are now expecting and they have a manger who has done a very good job of going in and stabilising.

“They will want to go on now and win the game.

“Playing for Celtic, there’s pressure in every game. We know that and we know there are consequences in every game.

“We want to win it but, for Rangers, there’s probably a need to win it and that’s a totally different psychology in the game.

“Rangers are in decent form, even though the goals they’ve scored have come against Championship teams, with all due respect.

“The one game of theirs I watched which gave a true measure was the Hibs game at Ibrox (a 2-1 defeat), against a team which plays with speed, intensity and aggression.”

Rodgers has been boosted by the return of Armstrong and Boyata and insisted they could be thrown straight back in.

Rodgers added: “I will take a final look at them tomorrow. Both look fit if I need to play them.”