Yahoo Sport 
Brendan Rodgers in trophy swipe at Rangers as Celtic boss claps back at Clement over cash claim
Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic have earned every penny of the gap which separates them from Rangers ahead of Sunday’s League Cup Final.
The Hoops manager was responding to his Ibrox counterpart Philippe Clement's comment earlier this week when he bracketed the Scottish champions with Spurs as “financially out of our league” when he looked ahead to the challenges facing his team in the Europa League on Thursday night and then at Hampden.
Rodgers was quick to point out that Celtic’s dominance over their Old Firm rivals in recent years has been as a consequence of the efficient boardroom management and successful transfer model which has eluded Rangers for so long. He said: “Listen, Philippe will have whatever he feels he needs to look at within ourselves I'm only interested in Celtic, really. Where Celtic has come to over a number of years, this is a club that's been organically grown. We haven't been handed money.
“This isn't something where we have had someone coming in from the Middle East and giving us a load of money. This is something that's been grown.
“The leadership from the very top of this club to the bottom is why we have had the successes that we've had. We've grown that, developed that, and that has allowed us then to win. When you win, that brings more success.
“For us, that is all I'm interested in - the greater good of this team and the club. The club's in a brilliant position, but it's all been earned. It's not been handed to us.
“Everyone has the possibility, certainly teams up towards the top, will have the possibility to earn the finances. And if they don't, then okay. We have to worry about ourselves and that's my only interest, really.”
Rodgers was also dismissive of the sub plot to Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup Final which sees Celtic and Rangers go into it having both won 118 major trophies in their history. The Ibrox outfit have long taken pride in declaring themselves as the ‘world’s most successful football club’ and Celtic have not been ahead in the head-to-head trophy count between them since 1938.
But Rodgers insisted those statistics are of no interest to him and aren’t something which require to be relayed to a wider audience. “Not really,” he said. “Not for me. For me, it's about the game. It's about winning the trophy.
“We want to win as many trophies as we can. We don't necessarily have to tell everyone. But we just want to win and win well, and then hopefully get into our next game and look to the next trophy.”
As Celtic look to claim the only piece of domestic silverware which eluded them last season, Rodgers has been boosted by the news Alistair Johnston will be fit to start against Rangers.
The Canadian international right-back limped out of Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League with a quad injury but was able to take some part in training at Lennoxtown on Friday.
Rodgers added: “The squad is healthy. We expect Ali to be healthy and he will be out on the pitches this afternoon.
“Hopefully we have everyone fit and available. We just gave him an extra bit of recovery on Friday morning. He has been an outstanding player for us and has been instrumental in our work. Speaking to him today, he was fine. So we expect him to be okay.”
