‘We don’t want to’ – Arne Engels sends clear message to Rangers as Celtic hero prepares for derby day

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Arne Engels has not taken long to fully understand Celtic as a club.

The Belgian has put in some top performances since his Celtic record transfer last summer. He has proven himself to be worthy of a spot in Brendan Rodgers’ side and has done well.

Engels will likely be in the Hoops’ starting XI when they face off against rivals Rangers this weekend looking to go 19 clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership and therefore one step closer to the league title.

But when questions came at the midfielder about his side’s preparation for the derby, it was a level-headed and mature answer that came back at the media when discussing the powderkeg clash.

For Engels, the Light Blues mean very little. He understands the nature of the derby match, of course he does. Especially after the midfielder was struck by a coin at Ibrox in the last one.

• READ MORE: Celtic star who has never played against Rangers could be Brendan Rodgers’ secret weapon for derby

Arne Engels says Celtic are treating Rangers like any other team

However this season Rangers have offered nothing by way of a challenge for Celtic in the title ‘race’ and that’s why preparation, Engels says, has been the same as usual under Rodgers.

“No, I think we don’t really want to show what kind of really good team we are,” he said when asked if this weekend’s clash is about proving how strong the squad is.

“We just want to win and that’s the most important thing. It doesn’t need to be always pretty or something. We just need to win and that’s our main focus now on every game. That we just need to win and don’t need to show everybody how good we are because we showed it already a lot of times.

“It’s now about winning every game and that’s always our mindset and it will always be our mindset every week. We prepare every game like every team. It’s not something special or something. We just need to focus on ourselves, focus on the next game and that’s what we are doing already now.

“We are focusing now on the next game and that’s the Rangers game. So it’s up to us now to relax a bit, recover and then just go into the new week with full energy and then we are ready for it.”

Celtic have the advantage over Rangers that they can have a rest this week with no Champions League fixtures in the build-up. Gers, meanwhile, play on the Thursday evening against Hoops wannabe Jose Mourinho‘s Fenerbahce and that should tire them out further.

Celtic need to extra motivation to face Rangers for a 19 point lead

Engels believes Celts can benefit from the week off in terms of the fixtures calendar even if training will be as fast-paced and busy as always.

So no extra motivation for Sunday is required.

“I think nobody needs to be motivated for that game. Everybody is there and everybody knows what kind of game it is and what kind of game everybody wants to have,” he added.

“We are really ready for it and everybody is really focused now on that game. Now it’s up to us to recover and be full of energy there.”