Brendan Rodgers channels Liverpool heartbreak into Celtic motivation for Rangers title run in

Brendan Rodgers insists his title heartbreak at Liverpool has taught him the importance of staying calm in any crisis thrown up by the remainder of this season’s run in.

The Celtic boss is locked in a nail biting two way fight for the a championship for the first time since he was pipped to the Premier League on the final day by Manchester City during his time in charge at Anfield. Rangers reclaimed pole position at Dens Park last night when they won their game in hand to open a two point lead with just six games remaining.

But Rodgers says the memories of that near miss 10 years ago will help him and his players keep their heads as this current campaign goes down to the wire. He said: “It was very difficult but I think the learning from it was maybe not to be too emotional. I think the emotion is fine - and this here title race really makes it better - but it’s so important to be able to control that emotion. It really is a choice.

“You want excitement and you want the dreams, absolutely, that’s what being a supporter is all about. But, from a football perspective, it’s about finding the calmness.

“We play a game with emotion and we play with a tactical idea. We play with a high level of technique, of course. But mentally you need to be stable, when everything around you can sometimes feel chaotic.

“I think the team is now coming into a really, really good place and we showed that at the weekend. We have the heart and the fight and the desire to go to even the most toughest arenas you could ever go to as a Celtic player and get a result from it. Now we arrive into the last six games with the opportunity to reinforce that and that’s something we aim to do.”

Celtic kept themselves in the thick of the battle with the 3-3