CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers has told former Rangers midfielder Joey Barton that his side can never afford to be complacent in a clash against their rivals. 

The Hoops recorded a 2-0 win over Pedro Caixinha's side at Ibrox on Saturday, extending their advantage over the Light Blues to eight points. 

Rangers flop Barton featured in one Old Firm derby last season, a 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park, before his spell in Scottish football ended prematurely with a contract termination in November.

Read more: Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha squared up to Celtic coach John Kennedy in the Ibrox tunnel

Speaking to Rodgers on TalkSport, the 35-year-old asked whether the champions feel confident of victory over Rangers now after securing six wins in their last seven meetings.

"Brendan, obviously you’ve got a good record over Rangers since you’ve been up there," he said.

“Pumped me in the first game I played, the first and only Old Firm game I’ve played!

“Do you go into the games thinking we’ve got this side’s number, there’s not really much?

“Sometimes you play against sides and just think when push comes to shove, you know you’ve got their number.”

Rodgers replied: “It’s a difficult one Joey isn’t it, because we’ve played seven times now and these are the types of games you can never be complacent in.

Read more: Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha squared up to Celtic coach John Kennedy in the Ibrox tunnel

“Especially with the atmosphere in both grounds. The one at the weekend was very intense, Rangers had great support as had we in our end.

“But you go into the game and know if you can play well and be really aggressive in your defending then we always have a chance to create and score goals.

“But we never go into them and expect because that’s the moment when you would slip up.”

The next meeting between the sides will take place on 30 December at Celtic Park.