The Bhoys have been handed the initiative by rivals Rangers failing to win any of their last three games but the coach is refusing to get carried away with his team's three-point lead as the season heads towards its conclusion.

Rodgers said: "Our focus has always been on ourselves and I made that point to the players, irrespective of what way it goes for other teams.

"We can only do our work because you can't soften up, especially at this time, because another team has drawn or lost because that's irrelevant.

"You have to perform and get the result because if you come off it against teams that are motivated and organised then they can give you a problem.

"For us, we have to continually focus on our own performance, irrespective of what happens elsewhere because we have to create our story and for that we have to work at it and, hopefully, that will be the storyline at the end of the season."

Celtic take on Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final this weekend and Rodgers is expecting a tough game despite their opponents struggling for much of the season.

He said: "Of course, there's big anticipation and pressure but go and embrace that and look to perform.

"We respect Aberdeen, it hasn't been a great season for them in terms of the league and changes of manager, but any semi-final is always a tough game.

"We have to expect a tough game and any team that gets to a semi-final is there with an opportunity to get to a final, so I envisage Peter [Leven] and his team will look to take the opportunity.

"For us, our focus is on ourselves and looking at our own performance and our training this week has been really good."