Brendan Rodgers is not bothered by the gap between Celtic and Rangers
Monday 24 October 2016 16:55, UK
Brendan Rodgers says the gap between Celtic and Rangers is not his concern after his team's win in Sunday's Old Firm derby.
Celtic followed up their 5-1 victory in the Scottish Premiership last month with a 1-0 success at Hampden in the League Cup semi-finals.
Although they had to wait until three minutes from the end for Moussa Dembele's winner, they were the better side and had significantly more possession and three times as many shots on goal.
"I'm not worried about the gap," Rodgers said. "That's for others to worry about, I'm only looking at the improvement for Celtic.
"If you're asking me a comparison of the two games from a Celtic perspective, then that would be what I would comment on.
"When you actually look at the analysis of the game and compare it to our last game where we won 5-1, every number in the statistics was actually better yesterday.
"We had more possession of the ball, we had more efforts on goal and more corners. That would tell you it was a similar - if not better - performance without the goals.
"The only statistic where it was different was the shots on target. The gap (between Celtic and Rangers) is absolutely no concern of mine.
"For us, it was about performance and it was about winning the game. I thought we won the game very well."
For all their dominance, Celtic might have fallen behind first had Jason Holt's second-half shot not been crucially blocked by defender Jozo Simunovic.
The Croatian nearly left Glasgow for Italian side Torino in August after a difficult period blighted by injuries.
As he builds his match fitness again, Rodgers has promised to handle him carefully as he looks for the 22-year-old to continue progressing.
Asked how lucky he felt it was Simunovic's move to Torino collapsed, Rodgers added: "Very fortunate. From a management perspective, it was great news. The boy just needed to get back.
"It was difficult for him at the time but you can see now he's really settled. He's working his way back into the team, back into training.
"Jozo, I believe, will be a top-class talent but has been out for a long time so it's about managing his games.
"You've seen he's a class act. Yesterday he was composed, calm and showed great qualities.
"When he's been out for so long, you can't afford to throw someone into three games a week with the intensity and tempo we try to play at.
"It's just about nursing him back in and hopefully he'll be able to play in those games we have. It's about managing his situation."
