BRENDAN RODGERS will order his Celtic players to remain calm amid the chaos as they embark on the six-game schedule that stands between them and a twelfth title in 13 years.
The champions will take on St Mirren at Parkhead on Saturday afternoon before the league split and the manager reckons the Hoops are picking up momentum at just the right time in their quest for the 54th crown in the club’s history.
Only a stoppage-time goal at Ibrox on Sunday prevented the visitors from earning a fourth successive win, but Rodgers is convinced the team will get back into their stride against a Paisley side they have already beaten three times this season.
The Irishman said: “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.
COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED…Brendan Rodgers charts the champions’ course to another title triumph. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
“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.
“I think the team is now coming in to 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 most toughest arenas you can ever go to as a Celtic player and get a result.
“Now we’re arriving into the last six games and we have the opportunity to really reinforce that. That’s something that we aim to do.”
Rodgers, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “It’s nearly a contradiction because you want to have that desire and you want to have that speed in your game, but, at the same time, you have to have patience, as well.
“But these last number of weeks the support have brilliant for us. I think they recognise what the players are doing and where they’re at.
“The players who are coming back are also giving the team confidence.”
The Hoops chief added: “There are six games to go, but the importance is now the next game, and it’s taking the levels of performance that we’ve shown.
“Now we’ve got a great game at home in front of our own supporters, it will be another tough game for us against St Mirren, but we look to bring our ‘A’ game into that.”
Rodgers now has to ponder on his team selection after Callum McGregor got just over half-an-hour against Philippe Clement’s side following a four-match lay-off with an Achilles problem.
The club’s influential captain was clearly off the pace at Ibrox and the gaffer could think about giving the midfielder a place on the substututes’ bench at the weekend again with another view to being introduced later in the action.
