RODGERS HAS HEARD REVIVAL TALK BEFORE

BRENDAN RODGERS last night brushed off any concern over talk of a Rangers revival by insisting he has heard it all before. And the Celtic manager — who is weighing up Old Firm returns for fit-again pair Stuart Armstrong and Dedryck Boyata — also believes the quality of opposition must be considered when assessing

the recent free-scoring run by Graeme Murty’s side. Rodgers will tomorrow aim for a fourth successive win at Ibrox to open up a nine-point lead at the top of the Premiership with a game in hand. Victory for Rangers would, however, see them move within three points of their rivals and create the first meaningful title race between the clubs for several years. Optimism has grown among Ibrox fans, with Murty revealing his players had cheered when drawn against Celtic in the Scottish Cup last weekend. Rodgers remains unperturbed, though, and claims he does not intend to use growing confidence across the city as a motivational tool for his squad. ‘Not really,’ he said. ‘I am not one to look over the fence and see what the neighbour has. It is irrelevant here. ‘We have to do our own work. They obviously feel really confident but we have been there before when they were going for 55 (titles). For me, the focus is on ourselves. ‘Graeme has done a very good job in stabilising the team and going for a more British core. ‘He has brought in one or two players who are going to work and a couple who are supporters of the club. That always means that little bit more. ‘He has then got a stable set-up when everyone is fit and has done very well. You can’t ignore that but it is not a worry. You concentrate on your own work and see where it takes you.’ The ‘Going for 55’ card display appeared at Ibrox on the opening day of last season after Rangers made their topflight return. But any title ambitions in that campaign quickly fell apart. ‘It is a similar feeling, a similar noise,’ argued Rodgers. ‘If you have that expectancy, then great — you have to go and deliver.’ Rangers have hit four or more goals against Ayr, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Falkirk during a six-game winning sequence. But Rodgers takes more interest in the 2-1 home defeat from Hibs that preceded that run. ‘It should be a fantastic game because they’re in decent form, even though the goals they’ve scored have come against Championship teams, with all due respect,’ he added. ‘The one game of theirs I watched which gave a true measure was the Hibs game, against a team which plays with a good speed and intensity and aggression. ‘That was a good measure of them at that level and it will be equally tough for us, but we can only control our own efforts and our own game.’ Rodgers retains faith in his squad to continue their track record of delivering on the big domestic occasions. ‘It’s important not to trap the players with the pressure,’ he said. ‘Playing for Celtic, there’s pressure in every game; we know that and we know there are consequences in every game we play. ‘But don’t worry so much about it and, in particular, not about this 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. ‘So I’ve always tried to ensure that, when it comes to the big games, we’re entirely focused on our own performance and that we ignore the emotional hype around these occasions. ‘It’s not a defining game but, of course, it is a real opportunity for us to extend the lead, with that game in hand. ‘It is a wonderful opportunity to show again that we are a good side. We have been judged a lot this year on our brilliant standard of last season. ‘Whereas this season, I think we’ve been very good at times. We will always look to improve, that is the drive we have. ‘But in these kinds of games when the challenges are presented to us, like when we came back to play Aberdeen (after losing to Zenit St Petersburg), we have always stood up to those challenges.’ Rodgers, who has Mikael Lustig suspended, hopes to reap the benefits of a full week of training. Armstrong and Boyata are both back in the squad having recovered from hernia and groin issues respectively. ‘I will take a final look at them tomorrow in terms of Sunday’s match,’ said Rodgers. ‘But both look fit if I needed to play them. ‘Both looked really strong in a practice game during the week. They had good power in their legs. It’s great news. Not just for this game but for the run-in. We have a strong squad.’