“Listen, I respect it is a big game”, said Rodgers. So when Rangers played Celtic, the same way as when Barcelona play Real Madrid, you pick a side based on what’s going on around you. Sometimes he will play, sometimes he won’t.
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Gers boss Warburton watched in horror as his side were torn apart by Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys, who moved four points clear of the Ibrox men in the league as a result.
The French striker, only playing due to an injury to top scorer Leigh Griffiths, became the first player to score a hat-trick in the fixture since Ally McCoist’s treble in the 1983 League Cup final.
Warburton replaced one forward, Kenny Miller, with another in Martyn Waghorn.
Celtic kept pressing and Dembele grabbed his third when he had a time and space to take down a Mikael Lustig cross and fired into the far corner, with Armstrong adding more salt to some very blue wounds when he made it 5-1 in added time.
Rangers go into this game with the pressure off away from home and with less experience than their opponents which does make them risky but as both sets of players and Managers will know, the Old Firm Derby is like no other match in world football with the pace and atmosphere likely to be second to none.
“We were high up the pitch, we were pressing like we do normally, and I was pleased with the first 15 minutes of the second half”. We felt we gave them a bit too much respect at times. They put the extra man up and we didn’t pick him up.
“The second goal, loose release, poor decision”.
“If we go there and we’re courageous and we get on the football and we move it quickly and do what we do well, we will be fine”. And I think the performance showed that, I really felt we deserved to win it.
“The supporters were incredible and they lifted the team. But at 3-1 that was my call to try to get something from the game”.
But Warburton is refusing to write off his side’s title hopes already, insisting: “It’s game five of a long season”.
“We have got a confidence, we have a confidence in what the manager wants us to do”.
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“The players will know what it means for the club and the supporters and they will be determined to win it”. We appreciate the significance of this game, but like we said going into the cup semi a year ago, it’s about what we do.
