BRENDAN RODGERS insisted he still has everything to prove as he prepares his team for the High Noon shoot-out at Ibrox this afternoon.
Celtic are 33 points ahead of Pedro Caixinha’s side and have already beaten them twice and drawn once in their three previous Premiership meetings while knocking them out of the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.
The Hoops are also still unbeaten in 41 domestic games in a memorable campaign that could lead to the magical treble.
Rodgers dismissed suggestions this outing matters less than those that have come before, The Irishman admitted he goes into every game fearing his stock could plummet over the course of 90 minutes.
He said: “I would like to think the players will tell you that. Every game I approach, it might be my last game.
“I have to fight to prove that I am good enough to be here. That means from the first waking moment we focus on our job, I make the players better, develop them and help the team develop.
“We need to be ready to fight. There are no lazy days. We’ve never had a lazy day in training as we can’t afford it in the games. And, like I’ve said, our season will not finish, and the demands will not finish, until the last whistle goes against Aberdeen.
“This is your professionalism. You just never know in football. What you have to do is do your best. Good practice, keep standards high and when you are the leader you have to demonstrate that.
“As the players will probably tell you, I am a wee bit demanding. But then you have to show you are at your physical best and you are doing everything you can to help them.”
Talking about the champions’ meeting the Govan outfit six times in the one season, Rodgers added: “I don’t think it is ideal, but it is the nature of it. You are going to play four times in the league and then we have two semi-finals, but it doesn’t take anything off them.
“I will turn up at Ibrox at the weekend and there is going to be a real buzz to play the games and we will look forward to it.
“It is a great pitch and the supporters behind the goal will be happy and we want to perform for them. You have an obligation to fight, to run, to do your best.
“We are in a real good moment physically in the team and our confidence is there. It is all working towards improvement.”
