‘We know…’ Alistair Johnston makes Rangers claim following Celtic’s League Cup success

Celtic’s Scottish Premiership duties return this weekend with a visit to Dundee United.

Brendan Rodgers will take Celtic to Tannadice for the first time as Parkhead manager, hoping to earn all three points and maintain his lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Rangers faced Dundee 24 hours earlier, giving them the opportunity to reduce the deficit on Celtics for a short period of time.

With an 11-point deficit between the two clubs, Alistair Johnston has made a claim about the Ibrox club. The Celtic defender explains what he and his colleagues are focussing on before of the weekend action.

Alistair Johnston didn’t send Celtic a warning about Rangers

Johnston told the Daily Record, “They’re a great team. The league is still in its early stages. It’s December, and there’s a long way to go. I believe last year was a fantastic example of this. We had a good lead at one point, but we squandered it away before clawing it back at the last minute.

“There’s going to be twists and turns. We can only really focus on ourselves.

“At the end of the day, if you just consistently pick up three points you’re going to leave yourself in a pretty good position going into matches against [Rangers].”

Clearly, Johnston did not warn Celtic about Rangers, as the Daily Record headline claims. The Hoops defender recognised that the Ibrox club is a good side, but he and his teammates are simply focused on what they are doing rather than the Ibrox club.

Johnston has just advised his Celtic teammates to keep their eyes on the ball. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Alistair Johnston talks up Celtic’s ‘great ability’ to beat Rangers and remarkable record vs Ibrox club

“Normally they end up being title deciders, continues Johnston, “But if you can give yourself as big a buffer as possible going into those matches it helps take some pressure off and leaves yourself in a good position no matter what the result is in those matches.

“But, again, we’ve shown a great ability to win these kinds of matches and I think that’s something that’s deep-rooted in this team and comes from the leaders we have in James Forrest and Callum McGregor and all those kinds of guys.

“We were expecting Rangers to kick on as well, and over the past couple of weeks they have done, but we know if we play our best football it’s really all about us at the end of the day.”