Brendan Rodgers says Celtic are in control of the Scottish Premiership title race due to their consistency, not Rangers’ woes.
The Hoops – who take on Ross County on Saturday live on Sky Sports – are 15 points clear of their Old Firm rivals following their win over Dundee United, and Rangers’ draw at Dundee.
Celtic have won 18 of their 21 league matches this season, with their only defeat coming in a 3-0 loss at Ibrox, and are on course to retain the title plus a potential domestic treble, having already won the League Cup.
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Highlights from the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United.
However, despite Celtic’s domestic dominance, Rodgers insists complacency will not set in amongst his group.
I think we’re 15 points clear because we’ve been so consistent,” he told Sky Sports News. “There can be a lot of spotlight on other teams and Rangers, for example, being that far behind.
“But you can then look at it and go, well, Celtic have actually consistently played very, very well and haven’t slipped up so much and just proven that consistency.
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Chris Sutton says Brendan Rodgers will be opening the champagne after Rangers’ draw in Dundee
“When you have that resilience as a team and mentality as a team, that can obviously give you a competition advantage as such. But for us, the focus is always on ourselves and on Celtic and how we work and how we play and hopefully that continues to deliver those consistent results.
“I don’t think there’d ever be complacency here. I think there’s always the challenge of people being too content and too happy with how things can be, but not at the biggest clubs. You can never afford to do that. That’s something we’ve shown consistently takes place. We’re always focused and ready for our next game.”
Rodgers calls for reintroduction of winter break
Celtic could be without a host of attacking options in Dingwall on Saturday, with James Forrest and Luis Palma ruled out of the trip to the Highlands, while Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda are doubts due to muscle injuries.
The match will be Celtic’s fourth in 10 days and Rodgers would support the reintroduction of the winter break “if it was ever possible”.
He added: “When I used to be up here, we knew that December was going to be a hard schedule, getting through all of that.
Nicolas Kuhn (R) and Daizen Maeda (L) are doubts for Celtic’s trip to Ross County
“Then you had your New Year’s game and only then you’d have a couple of weeks to reset, refresh and then go again for the second part of the season.
“To then actually have even more games in that period, now that we don’t have a break, it is a real challenge. You can’t deny that.
“We will do everything we can to produce the best performances and results and be focused on that as we possibly can be. However, it is a really heavy schedule.
“You’ve got to produce the best product that you can and that can be a challenge when you have so many fixtures.”
