Brendan Rodgers says Celtic can never use Killie's plastic pitch as excuse

Brendan Rodgers insists his side can never use plastic pitches as an excuse again as they prepare to return to a ground where happy memories are still fresh.

Celtic clinched the title with a 5-0 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in May after losing twice at the same venue earlier in the season.

Rodgers’ side return to Kilmarnock on Sunday on an impressive run of form that has seen them beat Aberdeen 6-0 in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals and then sweep aside RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The Parkhead boss knows a very different challenge awaits in Ayrshire against a team who recently beat Rangers at home.

“That’s always the test of you when you work here at Celtic,” he said. “You’re going to have those highs, or you hope to have those highs like we did in the Champions League.

“But then you know you’re going into your next game and whether you win, lose or draw, it’s those games that get you there in the first place. So we will respect the game.

“We can’t have any excuse. We talk about plastic pitches and everything else. But after how we played at the end of last season, to win 5-0 and play at that level, then I can never moan about a plastic pitch again.

“But our performance was so good. It’s just a bit of focus and concentration.

“You know when you’re here that you’re going to be in various competitions. We knew we had Hampden on the Saturday. A few days later, we’ve got a Champions League game and then we know we’ve got Kilmarnock. But we’ll be ready and look forward to it.”

Rodgers again locks horns with Derek McInnes, whose Aberdeen team posed his biggest challenge in his first spell at Celtic Park.

“Always a tough game against Derek’s teams,” Rodgers said. “I think when we played them a couple of times in the early part of last season, they were better than us and deserved to win.

“Once we got to grips with how we were working and our idea and focus in the turn of the year, then when we played, we were obviously in a different place.

“Obviously, come the end of the season, then we were in a really good place.

“I would say now we’re in an even better place. But that doesn’t take away the difficulty of the game. It’s still going to be very difficult.

“Derek’s teams are always well organised. They’re always super motivated and they will always challenge you. And that’s something that we’ll be ready for.”