CELTIC boss Brendan Rodgers admits he feels for underfire Rangers counterpart Mark Warburton - and urged him to block out the haters.

The Ibrox gaffer has been the subject of major criticism on the back of his team being hammered 4-1 at Tynecastle before being held to a 1-1 draw by Ross County at home.

Rodgers has currently guided his team to the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table, a whole 27 points ahead Warburton's men, during an unstoppable campaign.

However, the Northern Irishman concedes he does have empathy for the man tasked by supporters to improve matters on the field for the team in light blue.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers refuses to put time limit on his Celtic tenure

“I have empathy for every manager," said Rodgers. “It’s tough. There are good rewards to being a manager. It’s a great life, you’re out in the fresh open air every day, you are coaching players and making people better.

“But there’s another side to it that is tough. So I have empathy with every single manager, Mark, others, when it is tough.

“But we know we all have to get through it. You’re never going to have it perfect. You just try and stay as calm as you can and know that you work well, trust in what you do and look to win games.

“That’s one of the biggest things I learned. Winning games will stop the critics but in the end they are still there.

“There are three types of supporters. The first type that absolutely love you because you are the manager of Celtic. It doesn’t matter what you do, they’ll give you shirts and want you to sign everything.

“They probably wouldn’t even realise if you were winning or losing, they just love you. You’re the manager of Celtic.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers refuses to put time limit on his Celtic tenure

“The second group who are ‘okay, we’ll give you a chance and let’s see how you do. See if you win games and I’ll decide’.

“The third group, it wouldn’t matter. That’s the critics. That’s the group that if you won five they’ll say you should have won seven. ‘You won 5-2? Why did you let in the two goals?’

“You can never win. The first two groups you can influence. The third? I don’t even worry about that because it’s a group that’s there. Don’t waste your time."

The sympathy towards Warburton from Rodgers comes from being in a similar position during his time at Liverpool.

After narrowly missing out on the Premier League title with the Anfield club back in 2014, he was sacked little over four months later following a 1-1 draw with Merseyside rivals Everton.

It is this ever-changing landscape that has taught the 44-year-old to savour the good times and block out the negatives.

“I bumped into some supporters the other day and it probably capped it off," he laughed. I walked away with a smile and they said ‘You are doing well at the minute Brendan’. I was like ‘Okay…’ so I’m waiting on the minute I’m not doing well. It’s football.

"The narrative changes for a manager every single day. You are either absolutely brilliant at what you do or the next day you don’t have a clue what you are doing.

"You can’t just be a good manager or a player who is a human that has a tough time. You are either very good or very bad.

“I’ve always tried to, and even more so after that experience, never get too carried away when you win and never too disappointed when you lose.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers refuses to put time limit on his Celtic tenure

“Modern football is totally different. Each year there is more to write about, more to say, more opinions. You’ve just got to believe in what you do.

“If it’s not good at a point in time, you know you’ve given everything. Go away and recover, believe yourself and go again."

Meanwhile, Rodgers has revealed Tom Rogic is set to be out for up to eight weeks due to surgery on his ankle.

He added: “I was really looking forward to seeing him back playing again. He looked great in training and right at the very end he twisted the same ankle again.

“So we decided quickly it was best to have the operation on it, make it clean, then it’s done.

“He’ll be back for the end of the season."