Pat Nevin thinks Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said something which put the pressure on Rangers this weekend

Celtic’s result over St Mirren established the club’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership this weekend.

At the time, Rangers had two games in hand and were favourites to pick up three points at Ross County yesterday and reduce the gap at the top of the table.

But in a crazy turn of events, Philippe Clement‘s side surrendered a 1-0 half-time lead to eventually lose 3-2 despite an 89th-minute penalty giving the Ibrox side some late hope.

The Staggies eventually hung on to the lead and gave themselves three precious points in their bid for survival but for Rangers, the slip-up puts even more pressure on them for the next game against Dundee.

But Pat Nevin says that pressure had already begun after what Brendan Rodgers said post-match of Celtic’s Parkhead win over St Mirren.

Brendan Rodgers turned the ‘pressure gauge’ on Rangers

The former Everton man and now BBC pundit was speaking after Rangers’ Dignwall visit and revealed that that the ‘choice words’ the Celtic manager said cranked the heat up on the Ibrox side.

Nevin said [Scottish Football Podcast], “It wasn’t easy [the St Mirren win]. There were moments, there were absolutely moments where it could have done really quite ugly indeed.

“So I think they will be delighted. I think, right after the Game there was a few words from Brendan and Brendan was saying he much rather have the points in the bag.

“Right, there we go. Turn that pressure gauge up. That’s exactly what he was doing. And that’s exactly what you should do if you’re a manager.

“Whether that worked or not, who knows, but it was a tough one.”

Rodgers is a wily manager with plenty of experience in the Game. He also knows that anything he says is analysed to the nth degree not just by pundits, but also those in the Game.

Did Rodgers’ post-match Celtic comments really turn up the pressure on Rangers? We will never know. But what we do know is that the Ibrox side felt it because what should have been a routine win against relegation battlers turned into a pivotal moment of the season.

And it’s turned Wednesday night’s trip to Dens Park into essential viewing for the Celtic fans as they hope for yet another bubble-bursting moment in the race for the Scottish title.

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