Brendan Rodgers says his side have been “too comfortable” going into the last two games against Rangers and insists the newly crowned champions will be out to make up for lost pride when they go across the city this weekend.
The Ibrox side have won the last two league encounters between the sides, albeit when Celtic already had a commanding lead at the top of the Premiership.
They meet for the fifth and final time this season on Sunday, with both sides on two wins each, and the Hoops boss is aiming to give his supporters some extra cheer following last Saturday’s title party.
He said: “This is a game that is all about pride, we have proved ourselves over the course of the season in terms of our performance levels and consistency.
“I think the challenge in these games is that we have been so comfortable going into the games and I feel that has really disrupted our mindset.
“When it was win or bust in the cup final, we won it because we had to and that’s it.”
Celtic won 3-0 at Parkhead in the first meeting between Glasgow’s big two before lifting the League Cup trophy after a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory at Hampden.
But since then the derbies have been in Rangers’ favour with a 3-0 win at Ibrox then a 3-2 win in the East End of the city in March.
Rodgers has put the last two down to subconscious complacency, but insists they will be all guns blazing on Sunday.
He said: “The last two league games we have been too comfortable going into them, and even though you’re pushing what these games mean, and I know how much they mean to the supporters, to myself and to the club, there can still be that little bit in the back of the mind when you are so far clear and that can take a fraction of an edge off.
“You never want that, but there is maybe a subconscious thing there.
“But this time it is our last game against our biggest rivals, we are fighting for the pride of our team and for our supporters, because we lost the last game at Ibrox, and deservedly so.
“We shouldn’t have lost the game at home, but we did, and we now have to make that right in the last game.”
Rodgers also revealed that Alistair Johnston will miss the game, with Jota also ruled out for up to nine months and Nicolas Kuhn is a doubt.
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