Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers looked forward to “a bit of fun” against Rangers after a 3-0 victory over Hearts set up what could be a Derby to remember for the Parkhead faithful.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s first-half double and a late penalty from Matt O’Riley moved Celtic six points and eight goals clear with three cinch Premiership games remaining, their next a home clash against the Light Blues next Saturday.
Rangers have a game in hand against Kilmarnock on Sunday but anything less than a home win at Ibrox would open the door to Celtic clinching a third consecutive title against their city rivals.
There was a vibrant atmosphere inside Celtic Park as the home side emerged on top from an open first quarter and went on to dominate with Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark keeping the score down.
A banner in the standing section saw Celtic fans declare themselves “impatient for the coming fight” and Rodgers feels his full-strength squad are in a healthy psychological place ahead of the biggest match of the season.
Rodgers said: “It’s felt it’s getting back to what I want it to be. A bit of the norm.
“I said before the first six months were a challenge for everyone and everything. But now you start to see a bit more of what a Celtic team of mine should look like.
“And still with a lot of work to do to get it to that point. But it’s certainly heading in the right direction.
“Eighty per cent of it now is mental. Physically they are in a really good place. This stage it’s all about mentality. You can see mentally we are in a really good place.
“Take nothing for granted, keep our composure, we have a lot of work to do in the week, get our plan ready and then next Saturday we can have a bit of fun.”
Furuhashi capitalised on balls over the Hearts defence from Reo Hatate and O’Riley to claim his first double of the season.
Rodgers said: “These are big games at this time of the season so you want big contributions from your best players and I thought our top players were great.
“The quality of the goals, the composure, the penalty, we had other chances to score. It felt like a great Celtic day.
“The energy rolled from the stands down onto the field and hopefully the fans were happy with that.
“They were happy. I don’t think we were over-celebrating. Celtic-Hearts is an important game with four to go in the season.
“I think there was a happiness in how we played and performed that gave the crowd a great energy.
“You saw the players walking round at the end, nice and calm, taking the applause but also being respectful that we still have a job to do. A big job.
“But they did a big job today and we can now get ready. I’m so looking forward to it next week.”
Hearts head coach Steven Naismith bemoaned the difference in finishing in the opening quarter.
“We started off really well and it was two teams who were comfortable enough on the ball,” he said.
“The difference probably was that we didn’t take our chances and they did. In games, goals change the dynamic.
“We concede the first, which was a poor, poor goal from us as we’ve got the best defensive record from set-plays, so quickly in the game.
“I then thought we got a hold of the ball and created some chances. You can come to Celtic Park and not create any chances but we had some really good chances. They don’t go in, either through a good save or us not doing well enough.
“The second goal we give the ball away too cheaply, we’ve not got a good structure and it’s a simple goal for Celtic. When you’re going to do that it makes it an uphill challenge.”
