For a man apparently under pressure, Brendan Rodgers did not cut an anxious figure on Friday afternoon at the club’s Lennoxtown training base.

And the Celtic manager will urge his players to embrace the pressure and challenge that comes with Sunday’s game at Ibrox rather than shrinking from it.

There has been an intriguing build-up to this weekend’s encounter with the received narrative suggesting that this is the first time Rodgers himself has felt any real pressure in a domestic context since his arrival in Glasgow.

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There was little trace of anxiety in Rodgers’ pre-match chat and nor will he expect his players to be burdened by it as they head to Ibrox tomorrow.

“It’s important not to trap the players with the pressure,” said Rodgers. “Playing for Celtic, there’s pressure in every game; we know that and we know there are consequences in every game we play.

“But don’t worry so much about it and, in particular, not about this game. We want to win it but, for Rangers, there’s probably a need to win it and that’s a totally different psychology in the game.

“So I’ve always tried to ensure that, when it comes to the big games, we’re entirely focused on our own performance and that we ignore the emotional hype around these occasions. But you still have to play well to win them and we aim to do that.”

That Rangers are also under some pressure to go and take the game to Celtic on their own turf should give rise to space to play in. Given that the Parkhead side routinely have to find a way to break teams down then the openness of the encounter, with both teams wanting to win it, should be of benefit to the visitors.

“I think the beauty about this game is that there will be space for us to play in,” he said. “There are many times when we come up against teams who just sit in and deny you space, waiting for a singular moment to try and punish you.

“But when you go to Ibrox their supporters expect you to take the game to you. Which is great – that’s what big teams should do. But, the way we play, that works well for us. So it’s just a case of calming the players and allowing them to play.

“The pressure won’t go away but it’s all about playing our football. We have good experience in these games – whether we’re at home or at Hampden or Ibrox – and results have shown that.

“When you play the same opponent so often you can’t just look at previous scorelines and say: ‘That’s the parchment.’ You can still play very well and not win but we’re confident in our work and we’ve coped well with going to Ibrox.

“The first time we won 2-1 but we were clearly the better team. The second visit last season was a game for all eternity due to the way we played and the level of our performance. We played just as well earlier this season but didn’t take all of our chances.

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“We expect a tough game but we’ll be ready to exploit the spaces with the quality we have.”

Certainly, there is a psychological edge to the game for the Parkhead side. In the eight games that Rodgers has come up against the Ibrox side he was won 6 and drawn two, although he has stressed that his game plan is never to live off of past glories.

“That’s something for them to think about,” said the Hoops boss. “For us, we have gone to Ibrox and played very well. The games we have drawn have been at home.

“The concentration is just for us to go and play as a team and focus on what we can control. In these type of games, you can’t get carried away with all the periphery stuff. They are incredible atmospheres – home and away – and there is big expectancy and scrutiny in the games.

“Ultimately, though, you have to play with your brain. And that tends to be what we have done in these games and performed well.”

Stuart Armstrong and Dedryck Boyata are both fit and have trained all week but it remains to be seen whether they are surprise inclusions in the starting line-up tomorrow afternoon.

And while there has been much chat around whether or not a positive result for Rangers would create a title challenge, the other aspect of that is that a win for Celtic would enable the club to open up a 9-point gap and with a game to play still in hand.

Effectively that would signal the end of any illusion of a title race although Rodgers was wary of calling that.

“There are still nine games for us after this match.

“It’s not a defining game but of course it is a real opportunity for us to extend the lead, with that game in hand.

“We just see it as the next game. It is a wonderful opportunity to show again that we are a good side.

“We have been judged a lot this year on our brilliant standard of last season. Whereas this season I think we have been very good times. We will always look to improve, that is the drive we have.

“But in these kinds of games when the challenges are presented to us, like when we came back to play Aberdeen, we have always stood up to those challenges.

“This is another opportunity to show we are a good side.”