Celtic know that they are in a battle for the Scottish Premiership title that could go to the wire under Brendan Rodgers.
With nine games of the league campaign remaining, the Bhoys sit two points behind Rangers in the standings, though there is room for plenty to change between now and May.
Last weekend, Celtic lost 2-0 to Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle in a fixture fraught with VAR-centric incidents, creating a storm that is unlikely to subside in the immediate future.
Hyunjun Yang’s dismissal and Tomoki Iwata’s handball have become the two main talking points from the affair; nevertheless, Rodgers’ men spurned the chance to capitalise on Rangers’ defeat to Motherwell the previous day.
The Irishman vowed to keep on fighting for silverware in his post-match press conference and appeared to be in a bullish mood despite his side’s defeat in the capital.
He stated: “It’s still very much in our hands. We’ve got 12 games to go. Nine league games and we want to be in the cup final on the 25th of May. We will fight for every competition we will be in.”
This Sunday, Celtic face Livingston in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, presenting an opportunity to make inroads towards a potential first appearance at Hampden this season.
Former Celtic man Alan Stubbs names his title favourites
At this stage of the season, pundits and ex-players are quick to put forward their opinions on who will be crowned champions when all is said and done, and Alan Stubbs is no different in that respect.
The former Celtic man believes that the dynamic between his old club and Rangers is the closest it has been for a long time; however, he has backed Rodgers to lead the Bhoys to a third successive league title.
Stubbs stated [cited via BBC Sport]: “It’s on a knife edge. I still do think Celtic are slight favourites just because they’ve been there, seen it and done it. This is quite new, and I think this is as close as what Rangers have been for a long time. It’s going to be interesting to see how they deal with that pressure.
“This title is not going to be won until the very end, I don’t think. I think it’s going to go until the last couple of games. We know Celtic can see it through because they’ve done it, but can this Rangers team see it through?”
Celtic have nine cup finals remaining in the Scottish Premiership
There haven’t been many legitimate title races in the Scottish top-flight over recent years, though Celtic will be keen to focus on their own endeavours amid noise emanating from elsewhere.
Twists and turns are bound to occur in the final nine league matches; however, ensuring points are on the board is the only way to demonstrate we have the fighting spirit necessary to become champions.
Every single game is going to be like a cup final for everyone connected with the club, who will be desperate to see Rodgers prevail in his second spell north of the border.
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