Celtic hopes of beating Rangers to title rest on one major factor as Brendan Rodgers told what he needs to down rivals

The race for the league title looks like it will go down to the wire with the Glasgow rivals neck and neck at the summit.

Celtic’s hopes of winning the title race against Rangers rest on one major factor, according to one pundit.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side head into the international break one point ahead of Philippe Clement and his troops – having played a game more – after the Light Blues suffered a postponement at Dundee. A new date has yet to be pencilled in with an SPFL probe underway after a FOURTH Dens Park cancellation this campaign.

Celtic will face Rangers TWICE in that final run of eight games. Once at Ibrox sharply after the international break and another at Parkhead during the league split. Those results will prove vital for the destiny of the league crown this campaign but in order for that to be the Hoops, Falkirk captain Stephen McGinn reckons the Hoops MUST have Cameron Carter-Vickers in the side for every single minute of every single game. Fellow pundit and Celtic favourite John Hartson backed that up, hailing his qualities again and labelling him ‘pivotal’.

Speaking on Go Radio, McGinn said: “I thought the huge positive for Celtic was Kyogo. He look really, really sharp. You are judged against yourself and he hasn’t looked like that at times this season. People are asking is it because of the manager change or style? He always makes runs but it was the sharpness and brightness of it. The movement for his goal is unbelievable. How do you stop that?

“Cameron Carter-Vickers, the level of importance to Celtic. I feel like I am saying it every single week but they are going to need to get eight 95+ minutes out of Carter-Vickers if they are going to win this league.”

Hartson added: “He is pivotal. I’ve waxed lyrical about him many times on this show. For a centre-back he is quick, brave and great in both boxes.

“The way Celtic play he can come out with the ball. He is a playmaking sort of defender. His passing is really crisp and more often than not he makes the right decisions on the pitch as well.”

Brendan Rodgers in Rangers snub as St Patrick’s Day trumps Celtic rivals TV time

Brendan Rodgers has revealed he won’t be keeping track with Rangers‘ clash at Dundee this afternoon.

Celtic went ahead in the title race yesterday with a 3-1 victory over St Johnstone at Parkhead. Their slender one point lead will stand until Gers face the Dees at Dens Park today, should the game go ahead amid a pitch inspection scheduled for this morning. If it does kick-off at 12pm as planned, Rodgers won’t be watching along.

The manager explained how he will, instead, be celebrating St Patrick’s Day with family and friends and will take what comes next week no matter where his side sit in the division by then.

“It’s St Patrick’s day, there will be a celebration of the Irish community worldwide,” he told Sky Sports. “I won’t have any interest in other results. We did our job today and that’s all we can do. We’ll have a good day tomorrow.”

He added: “Afterwards we have a few days’ work where the guys will train well and train hard and we will have a bounce game that will give some of the guys an opportunity to get some game time. We will have a little bit of recovery and then we will all be back together. We lost Liel Abada and we lost Reo Hatate (on international duty). Big players that make the difference for you.

“Fingers crossed they all come back healthy and we have a strong squad. The only one I spoke to was Gregg (Berhalter) at the US team. We had a good chat. Obviously the case with Cam, who has been out for a bit, I was just worried he would go away and be involved in a couple of games when their big games are more later on in June. We had a good chat and it was decided that he stays behind and does his work for us and tries to remain fit for the rest of the season.

“You always have to respect international managers’ job as well and I also respect that players want to play international football. Fingers crossed they can all get back fit and well.”