SCOTTISH FOOTBALL: Brendan Rodgers glad to extend his stay at Celtic

Rodgers himself emphasised that the decision to extend his contract was an easy one to make.

“There’s a lot more to achieve and it’s a really exciting period for the club. I thoroughly enjoy working with the players. What I’ve always tried to do going into clubs is to improve individual players, make them better and make the teams better.”

Meanwhile Celtic will play host to Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon – and whilst the Manager will undoubtedly freshen up his squad with the title already won, as indeed he did in the midweek clash with Partick Thistle - the home support will be looking for a return to winning ways following the midweek draw.

Killie’s first visit to the East End of Glasgow this season – back in September – resulted in a 6-1 mauling for the Ayrshire men, but only after Souleymane Coulibaly had opened the scoring for the visitors with a spectacular long-range effort. That first-half lead was wiped out within six minutes courtesy of two goals from Mousa Dembele.

The Parkhead men’s visit to Rugby Park some three months later was much, much closer with only a Stuart Armstrong goal separating the two sides.

Kilmarnock currently lie seventh in the Premiership with 34 points from 31 games but following the departure of former boss Lee Clark they have proven stubborn and difficult opponents, unbeaten in their last four games, having accumulated six points in that run. The midweek home draw with Rangers proved that under Lee McCulloch they have been welded into a compact, hard-working and solid outfit with the dangerous Greg Kiltie and the experienced Kris Boyd a threat up front.

The Rugby Park outfit retain slim hopes of a ‘Top Six’ finish – but for that to remain a possibility they will need to leave the East End of Glasgow with all three points, something that Brendan Rodgers and the home support will not tolerate.