Brendan Rodgers names Celtic record he's keen to shatter as boss wants what no Hoops manager has earned before

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says there’s a record breaking stat on his mind after a 5-0 win over St Johnstone in their Scottish Cup semi final.

Against a side who recently beat them 1-0 in the Premiership, the holders were in no mood to entertain another shock. Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah and Callum McGregor all scored before half-time to bring their dreams of a Treble one step closer, with Aberdeen awaiting in the final next month.

VAR ruled out a Saints strike by Makenzie Kirk in the second half and overturned a penalty for Celtic after a challenge on James Forrest. Jota put extra gloss on the manner of victory and speaking after the game, Rodgers would become the first ever Celtic manager to win three Trebles as manager at Celtic and he was asked post match whether that’s something that motivates him.

Brendan Rodgers reaction to thumping win

He said: “Clearly. Yes, it does. Yes, of course, it's nice when it comes to you as an individual, but for me it's what's best for Celtic and us winning the trophies. Because it's not so much the trophies for me on a personal level. It's the hard work that goes into it. The values that are there and the idea of how we work and how we play and how we coach the players every day. So that's what's more important to me. But, of course, for the club and the history and the supporters, getting the trophy is key. So, for us, we've got two more to win and we'll recover and get ready to finish off the league

“I think it's been such a long season and with so many games and I think we've had one or two performances within that, which is natural, that maybe weren't quite at their best. But what I've had with nearly two years of this team is just making sure that mentality, you've got to keep pushing. It's the time of the season where the trophies are there.

“Supporters want it, we want it. But then it's about, you've got to perform. So, yes, we're into another final. That was the big ambition and it give us that opportunity against Aberdeen in a month or so's time. But now we go into a little sort of mini league where we want to be the best in that little league and that next game is at Dundee United to get the result to draw a line onto the league. So, yes, it's a really exciting end to the season for us again.”

Responding to adversity

Rodgers had that 1-0 loss on his mind and after running up a 5-0 winner against Kilmarnock and 5-1 here, he has hailed Celtic’s relentless nature. He added: “Such a great performance. Obviously, St. Johnstone made it really difficult for us in that first period and it is when you're playing against that sort of man-to-man.

“You have to work so hard to rotate and be flexible in your movement to create the space. But once we then did that for the first goal and we got the runner off the marker and Callum finishes then, from that, we really set the tempo of the game. It was very impressive and a big applause to the players because they were so good in the game.

“My thoughts going into this game was this was about having the humility to get the work in. Once you're a team that's won it, then it becomes even harder, because you have to work even harder as teams are trying to stop you and they have that fight and they put that extra percent in to stop you. So it's having that humility to run, to work and then after you do that, it's then about the ambition in the game and that's what we showed .

“Even in the first half, the second half we came out and our messaging was to make sure we retain the tempo, keep the speed in the game, keep the pace in the game, attack the game, press the game and hopefully more chances will come. And they did come, but we didn't quite finish them. But that's a huge testament to the players because, as I said, we needed to respond from the St Johnstone game which two weeks ago wasn't acceptable for our club. But the response of the players now, they've had two games done by half-time but still showed the ambition to keep going.”