Brendan Rodgers played down the notion of a dugout battle with Steven Gerrard as he looked forward to Sunday's Old Firm clash at Parkhead.

The Celtic boss is unbeaten in his 11 fixtures against the Light Blues since he took over at Parkhead in 2016.

Gerrard, who played under Rodgers at Liverpool, is unbeaten in his first 11 games as Light Blues manager and will be the fourth Gers boss the Northern Irishman has faced after Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha and Graeme Murty.

Ahead of the second-leg of the Europa League play-off tie against Suduva on Thursday night, where the score stands at 1-1 from the first game in Lithuania, Rodgers 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.

"So 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."