Brendan Rodgers says Celtic will beat Rangers in Saturday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final to ensure Joe Hart finishes his glittering career with more silver medals.
The 37-year-old former England goalkeeper will retire after this weekend’s Old Firm game at Hampden.
And Rodgers hopes Hart can reach the pinnacle of excellence by adding one final accolade to the trophies he has already won with Manchester City and the Hoops.
“I think Joe has the (motivation) and he certainly understands that this is his last professional game,” Rodgers told Celtic TV.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic here and we’re all keen to send him off into the sunset with another trophy in his collection, to cap off a really fantastic career.
“Joe is very focused. He is keen to win the league title again and now help the team win the Scottish Cup.”
Celtic went into Saturday’s showdown with their arch-rivals in high spirits after clinching the Premiership trophy with last weekend’s home win over St Mirren.
Rodgers is confident his team can maintain their focus and try to replicate the intensity of the performance that saw them win 5-0 at Kilmarnock last week.
“It was great to celebrate over the weekend, but my focus is now on the Scottish Cup final,” he said. “We are preparing to deliver a similar performance to the one against Kilmarnock.
“We will prepare really well and play on a great court. This will be the last showpiece game of the season, so we want to do our best and finish off a great season.”
“Our intention is to win every game, cup or not. There are no second chances in the final. That’s our attitude. We go into the final in really good shape but , it doesn’t mean anything.
“We have to prepare thoroughly this week, paying attention to every detail of the game and giving our players the best opportunity to be free to play the type of football we want to play.”
Rodgers has no concerns about his players’ ability to make a final push on Saturday after struggling to win the league title.
“The players understand that it’s part of the job to be here again,” he said. “We finished the season as champions and it was well-deserved.
“I’m really proud of the players for how they handled the situations and the pressure over the last nine games or so and ended up with eight wins and one draw. And the draw was well deserved. “The win – it really showed the team’s focus and humility. is showing.
“We’re in the finals, and finals are meant to be won. It might be unfair to ask you to be in the (title race) again after that, but thankfully I’ve had a bit of a break after that. We are focused on planning and preparing for this week and preparing for this special occasion.”
