Brendan Rodgers in Hearts and Hibs reference as Celtic boss says 'big clubs in Edinburgh' have one shared goal

Brendan Rodgers has been talking Hearts and Hibs in his latest Celtic press conference.

Both clubs in the capital are in Premiership action this weekend, Hearts away to St Johnstone and Hibs hosting Dundee United. Going into the weekend, both clubs occupy the bottom two slots, with each side having designs on moving up the table.

Aberdeen are the challenge for Celtic boss Rodgers this weekend as the Hoops look to reach the final against either Motherwell or Rangers. In praising Aberdeen’s unbeaten start to the season, Rodgers also cast his verdict on where Hearts and Hibs want to be in the league right now.

He said when asked if it was good for Scottish football to see Aberdeen performing to the high levels they are: “Yeah, I think it is brilliant. I think it’s great. Whether it is football, or whether it is business, any competition is healthy and it’s what makes you better.

“You will always drive your own standards and your own standard of performance, absolutely. But competition is really, really healthy and can keep moving you forward.

“And Aberdeen are up there fighting as well, and everyone will expect Rangers to be there at some point, there will be other teams, big clubs from Edinburgh will feel they want to be up there challenging as well. So I think the more competitive, then, of course, that can improve you.

“It’s a great credit to them. In their first 10 league games, they have played with that consistency and done really well, have really good players.

“Jimmy has done a fantastic job and good coaching staff behind the scenes, too. I always expect Aberdeen because of my first time up here to be up there challenging. In Derek’s [McInnes] time, he had a great period, so I always expect them to be there, so to see them is not a surprise, they are playing very well.”