Rodgers fires back at Celtic critics

Scottish Cup: St Mirren 0 Celtic 2

Brendan Rodgers railed against the negative narrative around Celtic and him after reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win over St Mirren.

Despite sitting three points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership, the Parkhead boss has come under fire for the Hoops' style of play this season and also for his recruitment.

The holders were shorn of defenders Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Greg Taylor through injury but Japanese duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda netted against a spirited home side to earn a home quarter-final tie against Livingston.

Rodgers noted that it is now eight wins and a draw in nine games for the Hoops - difficult to construe as any sort of a crisis.

He said: "It's obviously (a narrative that's) been created outside. But I don't expect anything less to be honest. We just focus on ourselves.

"We are a winning club. When you've won consistently over a number of years, people will look to jump on you and bring us down - and bring me down.

"I am here to win. For sure we will have our day, and have many days going forward. We'll get our influential players back and the squad will be very strong to the end of the season. We'll continue to fight.

"We just have to prove a point to ourselves and our supporters. I think that's always the best attitude. You are always looking to prove a point.

"It's a part of the world where there is a lot of noise - and this year in particular when it (Celtic's play) maybe hasn't been as fluent.

"We get compared to the squad of last season but one, it's not the same squad as last season, and two, a lot of those players who were starting last season have not been