THE fallout from Russia’s initial nuclear attack on us, apparently coming any day now, won’t last as long as the aftermath of a Glasgow derby.

Just when you think every miniscule event from the match has been discussed to death, someone opens their mouth to keep the conversation going and going.

Step forward,Barry Ferguson, former Rangers captain and now a pundit, who claimed that Celtic were lucky during their win at Ibrox. Or “sheer luck” a phrase which appeared in his newspaper column.

“Okay…” said Rodgers with a smile when informed of what the bold Barry had been saying about a 3-2 away win over Rangers after going down to ten men for most of the second-half when Jozo Simunovic was sent off.

The Celtic manager didn’t quite gleefully rub his hands before presenting his own thoughts but he rather enjoyed his rebuttal.

Rodgers said: “In any game of football there is always an element of luck but I would think even Rangers supporters wouldn’t say that (Ferguson’s opinion); if you look at how we played and what we had to go through in the game.

“That’s the third time in the 20 months I have been up here when we’ve gone down to ten men. They were all away, at Pittodrie, Hamilton and Ibrox. In those matches, over the course of the time we were down to ten men, it has been 94 minutes; so virtually a game and extra-time we’ve played with ten.

“And in those games, when we were down a man, we scored four goals and conceded none. I don’t think that’s luck.

“Sunday was a great game, we had to show fighting qualities, we were up against it through our own mistakes. If you look at their two goals, the first one was a mistake from us, and the second wasn’t the best defending when a cross comes in but then, really, there was nothing.

“All they had was the Alfredo Morelos opportunity which he should score.

“Listen, Barry Ferguson is someone I don’t know. I’ve never met him so I can’t comment on him. I only know him as a player and I had great respect for him as a player. He clearly is very much Rangers, which I respect, and the win can hurt very much.

“But I think most supporters would admire our team and how we won, and I mean both sides, would not say we were lucky.”

And Rodgers wasn’t finished there.

He makes sure his players have all the knowledge required to deal when playing with a man down. Like some others he could have mentioned and duly did.

Rodgers said: “Winning with ten men is not as easy thing to do. Rangers went down to ten men and lost 5-1 to us. So it’s not easy. It is part of the game you have to prepare for. It’s a pressure situation and the players have to be able to anticipate it and stay calm. I’m not trying to be clever, this is how we work from when I first came in.

“I like my team to be disciplined. We want to win and win in the most sporting way we can.

“We’ve had three cards, two of them are from Willie Collum. Callum McGregor at Hamilton was never a sending off. Mikael had two yellows at Pittodrie so I can see that. There is an argument around what happened at Ibrox but I would say it was because his arm was bent.

“I think the linesman (Douglas Ross) couldn’t wait to give it and that’s not his job. His job is to assist in the decision, not to make, and I think it was pretty clear he made the decision. But however they come, deserved or not, you have to be ready as a team.

“And I think my team showed they were absolutely ready for it. They had eleven players but we had ten soldiers in the game who were ready to fight, and we had the quality to see it through.”

Celtic are at Motherwell on Sunday, a team who have given them a hard time once or twice in recent seasons.

Craig Tanner is out for the rest of the season with a bad knee injury, which Rodgers mentioned as he is a player who had caught his eye.

He said: “Stephen Robinson’s done a great job with Motherwell. He kept them up last year and took them to a League Cup Final this year and made them competitive.

“Now they have another chance of a cup final. All the games have been tough. He maximises what he can out the players. I’m sad for the boy Tanner as he’s a catalyst for them. He’s a good technical player, but they have others.”

Scott Bain will be in goal again for Celtic and his team-mate for a second time, Jack Hendry, knew his pal from Dundee would handle last Sunday’s mayhem.

Hendry, said: “Scott hadn’t played for quite a while and so it was great yo see him do so well. I played with him at Dundee, obviously, and knew what he was capable of.”