Brendan Rodgers plays down rivalry with Steven Gerrard

Bengaluru, August 31: Record-breaking Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has played down the rivalry between himself and his old friend Steven Gerrard ahead of the Hoops' home game against Rangers on Sunday (September 2).

The Old Firm Derby has always been a special rivalry but this time it will be even more memorable as Steven Gerrard will lead his Rangers side against Celtic who are managed by Brendan Rodgers who managed him at Liverpool.

The Northern Irishman is unbeaten in 11 Old Firm derbies, but his side suffered a wobble early on this season when they suffered a shock defeat away to Hearts in their second Premiership match and were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by AEK Athens.

Rangers, meanwhile, are yet to lose in their 13 outings under Gerrard, who played for Rodgers at Liverpool where the pair narrowly missed out on a Premier League title in the 2013-14 season.

Gerrard has even made the Gers come back to Europe after making it to the Europa League group stage winning their playoffs which is another big achievement of his newly-started managerial career.

Gerrard has since criticised his former manager for being over-confident in pre-match team talks during that critical campaign, but Rodgers is not focusing on any personal issues.

The Hoops boss told Celtic TV : "I am looking forward to seeing Steven.

"He is a good guy, we worked well together at Liverpool. I don't necessarily see it as a dugout battle, I see it as the teams on the field.

"Whatever coach or manager is there at the time, it is irrespective to me. It is about looking at them and how they play and preparing the team in order to win the game.

"That's what I have tried to do in the 11 games against Rangers in my two years here."

Gerrard is the fourth manager to take charge of the Gers in an Old Firm match since Rodgers joined Celtic in 2016. The 45-year-old has previously faced Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha and Graeme Murty, and will be hoping to continue his dominance in the Gerrard era.

Rodgers added: "That's the focus really. Try to analyse them the best we can.

"There is no doubt Steven has made a difference to them and made a change to them, a positive change.

"No matter the form, they are always tough games so our notion after Thursday will be to focus on that and be ready for it."