Arne Engels says Celtic eager to finish with flourish after St Johnstone rout

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels admits they were determined to deliver a statement performance at Hampden as they avenged their recent defeat by St Johnstone and showed they are ready to finish the season on a high.

Manager Brendan Rodgers was critical of his team’s attitude after they fell to a 1-0 loss in Perth against the William Hill Premiership bottom club earlier in April.

But they have responded by hitting four first-half goals against both Kilmarnock and Saints in the following two weekends.

The latest performance earned them a 5-0 win against Simo Valakari’s side and set up a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen on May 24.

Celtic are gunning for a sixth treble in nine years, with Saturday’s trip to face Dundee United giving the champions the chance to wrap up the title before Rangers have kicked a ball in the post-split fixtures.

Engels said: “We wanted to show everybody that we are ready for the upcoming games.

“We knew that we needed to do something after our last performance against them.

“We knew that we needed to start really well, really aggressive and full of energy. That’s what we did.

“You see on a nice pitch that we can really hurt everybody and show our qualities.”

Celtic need just a point from their final five league games to officially clinch the title, but Engels is determined to finish with a flourish.

The Belgium international added: “Everybody is really focused on the main goal. That’s winning trophies. We are really confident in our abilities and we think we are in a good place.

“We knew that we needed to do something and last week’s performance was really good. That showed we are still full of energy and motivation.

“Again on Sunday, you also saw in the first half we scored a lot of goals. That made it easier for us. We can still push on in the second half but they are playing in a low block and don’t really want to press any more because they don’t want eight or nine in the back of their net.

“It’s up to us now to keep this level, keep performing, and recover as well.”