Rodgers calls for calm amid title heat

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stressed the need for calm heads as his side head towards the Premiership split battling with Rangers.

The champions are a point ahead of their rivals but Rangers still have a game in hand following the second postponement of their trip to Dundee.

A 3-3 draw at Ibrox on Sunday, when Rangers came from two goals behind and then snatched a stoppagetime equaliser, means the destiny of the title remains in both teams’ hands with a Celtic Park derby to come.

Celtic round off their pre-split fixtures at home to St Mirren on Saturday.

When asked what he had learned from his similarly close title race as Liverpool manager in 2014, Rodgers said: “It’s very difficult, but I think the learning from it is to maybe be not too emotional.

“I think the emotion is fine, and, as I’ve said, this title race really makes us better. But it’s so important to be able to control that emotion, and it is a choice.

“You want excitement, you want the dreams – absolutely, that is what being a supporter is all about. But from a football perspective, it’s about finding the calmness.

“We play a game with emotion, we play with a tactical idea, we play with a high level of technique, of course, but mentally you need to be stable when everything around you can sometimes feel chaotic.

“But I think the team is now coming into a really, really good place.

“We showed that at the weekend, and that we have the heart and the fight, and the desire to go to even the toughest arenas you can go to as a Celtic player and get a result from.

“Now we’re arriving into the last six games and we have the opportunity to really reinforce that, and that’s something that we aim to do.”