BRENDAN RODGERS has revealed he prepared his Celtic team to play with only TEN men ahead of the clash against Rangers at Ibrox on Hogmanay.
The Hoops boss was left fearing that premonition could come true when skipper Scott Brown was given a first-half booking by referee Steven McLean for a foul on James Tavernier.
But Rodgers praised his captain after he refused to be sucked in by the powder-keg atmosphere during Celtic’s 2-1 win.
The Parkhead gaffer said: “We did an exercise on this the other day because in these games you need to stay calm.
“We had a few bookings, but the last thing you need to do in a derby game is go down to 10 men.
“You have to play with responsibility, but Scott was again outstanding.”
Six players – three from each side – were booked in a game that never threatened to boil over. As well as Brown, the Hoops had Jozo Simunovic and Mikael Lustig yellow-carded. The trio of home culprits were Josh Windass, Danny Wilson and Tavernier.
Goals from Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair handed the undefeated leaders a 15th straight league win after Kenny Miller had given Mark Warburton’s outfit an early lead.
