Mental toughness is key to Celtic’s success, says Brendan Rodgers

BRENDAN RODGERS believes his Celtic dominate Scottish football because the players have a superior mind-set.

The Hoops are aiming to make it 69 games unbeaten domestically when they take on Hearts at Tynecastle today.

They’ll then turn their attention to maintaining a two-year run without defeat at home when they play Partick Thistle on Wednesday.

There has been much debate about what it will take for a Scottish team to win against the Champions, but Rodgers is more concerned with what makes his men so successful compared to the other side.

He said: “In some ways, there’s not a big difference in terms of players.

“I’ve seen a number of players up here who could probably play for Celtic. Then when you asked about them, the mentality’s not there.

“The big difference is mentality.

“Some players up here will be as quick as our boys, equally as skilful, but when it comes to it, how are they mentally?

“It’s a tough ask because they can’t cope with the demands every day.

“They have to lead the right life – diet, nutrition, preparation, concentration, drive, resilience.

“This is what it takes when you want to play for the big club.

“It’s very important they have that psyche.

“It’s the mind-set we’ve tried to introduce since we came in here.

“You never leave a game early. You keep fighting to the very end.”

“You can’t have a lazy day. You can if you want, but you can’t play at Celtic.

“If you want to be successful, there’s a price to be paid.

“You have to be ready to work – no matter how you feel or if you’re motivated. You make a commitment.

“You come in here and you see a star, which means the club is a European Cup winner.

“That tells you that you have to be good just to be here.

“It’s why some very good players go to big clubs and people wonder why it doesn’t quite work out for them.

“It’s not that they’re bad players. It’s because every single day of your life at a big club is a challenge.”

Rodgers says his players may well remain in the record books well beyond their lifetime.

They broke the 100-year record of Willie Maley’s team when they passed the mark of 62 games unbeaten domestically.

The current record gets more difficult to surpass with every passing week.

He said: “It sets the bar, that’s for sure.

“I would suspect that I certainly won’t be here.

“It’s an incredible achievement. You look back to that team under Willie Maley and the players involved.

“To have waited 100 years to break it, it tells you the significance of that achievement.

“But when you are in the middle of it and working away you tend to not think so much of it.

“It’s more the legacy you leave afterwards.”

Celtic have nearly been beaten a couple of times this season but Rodgers doesn’t believe his team are letting their standards drop.

He said: “We are only six points different from last year.

“Last season was the most goals scored, the most points, it was a unique season really.

“Those are one-off seasons. But the players have followed it up remarkably well.

“They are a bigger target this year but still they have continued to win.

“We won our first trophy of the season and we are in European football after Christmas.

“We may be a few points or a few goals short but, considering the number of games, they have truly been brilliant.

“I thought the league was strong last year but maybe players have an extra motivation to end the Celtic record.

“We played Motherwell one of the games and one of their young players talked about beating Celtic being like winning a trophy.

“So that tells you everything about what it means to the other teams.”