RODGERS EYES MORE HISTORY

BRENDAN RODGERS is on the brink of even more Celtic history as he prepares his players for the visit of St Johnstone on Sunday.

Amazingly, the Hoops have NEVER won the Scottish Cup in three successive seasons.

The Irishman has not lost a domestic Cup-tie since he took over from Ronny Deila in May 2016, lifting two Scottish Cups and three League Cups along the way.

Now Rodgers has his sights set on eliminating the Perth Saints at Parkhead at the weekend on his way to a hat-trick and he said: “It is a big ambition because I’m here to win and win as many trophies as I possibly can.

“There have been two great Scottish Cup Final days days for us. Now we want to get into the next round to put ourselves into the hat to have that opportunity to win it again. But we will have to earn it.

“It is a great tribute to the players. We have tried to teach them not to be relaxed.

CUP THAT CHEERS: Part One: Tom Rogic races away after scoring the winner against Aberdeen in May 2017.

CUP THAT CHEERS: Part Two: Olivier Ntcham celebrates scoring Celtic’s second goal against Motherwell with a delighted Scott Brown joining in. Pics: Geo.

“You always have to prepare well and, as coaching staff and manager, you have to give that detail in preparation, so the players will feel that it is a big game, give them that clear purpose going into the game and then they can go and express themselves.

“And the demands at Celtic are to win, to win well, and over my period here that is what the players have done and the ambition is to continue with that.”

Rodgers added: “We have played St Johnstone four times this season, it is only human that you can maybe be blase going into these games having won the games and played well in them.

“We have always tried to train the players with the attitude that every game is different, you have to respect every game.

“We work very hard on excellence in our work and that is not easy.

“Anyone who has been in my position will tell you with respect of how difficult it is, when you are playing well and winning games, how to sustain that.

“But the beauty of these players is that they are very focused, the culture we have is based around that, no matter how we are doing that we can always improve.

“That is the mentality we take into this game and our objective is to get through.”

Rodgers picked up his first Scottish Cup in dramatic circumstances in May 2017 when Aberdeen, who had been beaten 3-0 in the Betfred League Cup Final earlier in the season, put up a spirited fight at Hampden.

Jonny Hayes, now at Parkhead, of course, smashed in an early opener, but that was swiftly nullified by Stuart Armstrong and Tom Rogic danced his way through to slide in the winner in stoppage time.

Last term, two first-half goals from Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham settled the issue with Motherwell and Rodgers had completed a historic double treble.

Now all eyes are on a treble treble!