For those of a green-and-white nature, Celtic has always been a family. A collective. A club like no other. There is nobody bigger than the club itself... ever.

It also functions better when the manager, players and the Celtic support are all singing from the same hymn sheet. At various stages of this season, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has been at pains to quell any disunity, discord or disharmony narrative. Rodgers and his men are laser-focused. Homing in on another domestic double and they will not be deviated from that quest.

The Northern Irishman was voted the Manager of the Month for April after Celtic won two of their three league games and drew 3-3 at Ibrox in the most recent Glasgow derby to end the month three points clear at the top. The defending champions also reached the Scottish Cup final with a penalty shootout victory over Aberdeen at Hampden.

For Rodgers, it was business as usual. There was no self-praise. There is no honour in that anyway. Just a timely reminder that Celtic is all about the collective...always. The 51-year-old said: "I think the players have been great. They have got the results and awards like this are always a testament to everybody, our staff, both here and at the stadium and the players. We won't read too much into it as we are going into an exciting period now in these remaining games and our focus is very much on picking up team awards rather than individual awards."

READ MORE: Rodgers wants Celtic to put 'scoreboard pressure' on Rangers

There are four games to go in the Scottish Premiership title race and next up for Celtic is a rather tasty outing against Hearts in Glasgow's east end. The capital club are going in search of a hat-trick of wins over Celtic for the first time since 1961.

Steven Naismith's men done for Celtic at Parkhead in December and at Tynecastle in March by the same 2-0 scoreline on each occasion. The game in Gorgie had its fair share of VAR controversy. Rodgers labelled VAR operator John Beaton 'incompetent' in the aftermath after Yang was sent off and a penalty awarded against his side in the defeat. Rodgers copped a two-match ban with one suspended. Earlier this week the SFA admitted that they got both penalty calls wrong in the stormy affair in Auld Reekie.

Rodgers praised Scottish football's governing body on their transparency levels but he and his players have long since moved on. He opined: "Listen, my feeling at the time was that they weren't correct. It just confirms a few months later where we were at. It's gone. We served our punishment and didn't get the result and now we move on like we did back then.

"I think transparency is important, for sure. It also shows courage for them as well to come out and disclose that. That level of transparency and reflection will always help the game. I always think resources will help the game and help support the referees with the best technology and education that there possibly can be. That will also help. I think for them to come out and do that you have to say well done to them but it doesn't change anything from my perspective.

"I won't get bogged down in the last two games that we have had against them. One at home and one away. To me, this is very much about ourselves and our focus. Hearts have done well and we played a really good game against them earlier on in the season, for various reasons the other two games have not been so good. This is us at home now in the final stretch of the season super-motivated and hungry to play well. If we can do that then we want to be able to pick up all three points"

He even had some words of encouragement for Jambos boss Naismith. Rodgers said: "I expect Hearts to be up there due to the size of the club and what they’ve done in their history up here in Scotland. It’s not a surprise for me that they’re up there, but also for Steven coming in, in his first managerial job and the pressure of leading a club up there. I think he’s done very well."

However, you get a real sense that this is the game Rodgers craves. Not for revenge purposes far from it. This is the match that Celtic need. The manager, the players and the Celtic supporters all crave it. It's that collective thing again, isn't it?

There will be a real sense of occasion at Celtic Park for this one and there will be a cacophony of noise emanating from the G40 amphitheatre that will rival derby day as 60,000 roar their heroes on. It was rather telling in the aftermath of Celtic's 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park last weekend that Rodgers was purring at the thought of this mouth-watering clash. Inwardly Rodgers knows his men are in a good place.

Rodgers said: "The three home games will play a huge part. I think that has been the difference over the last few months - how everything has been connected. The fans, along with ourselves and the staff are a connection to the team and an extension of what we see on the field.

"The support they give to the team is unrivalled when everyone’s onside. To have that in three of the last four games at home will be special. We’ll need that patience as well because teams are not going to turn up and roll over, we have to be patient in the stands as well as on the field. We’ll be looking to play our game at the right speed and tempo and look to cause difficult moments for the opponents. To play at home on the pitch with the crowd, hopefully, we can take that advantage with us.

"I think there was a lot of settling in, probably a lot of adjustment with me coming back and how long is he going to be here and obviously with Ange Postecoglou leaving as well. With Ange, Celtic had a couple of successful seasons so when you lose one manager, another manager comes in that maybe some people don't want in and...so there's all that settling going on. The principal difference in performances was the unavailability of players, that has been the main difference at times when the team hasn't played at the tempo or style this season because we have missed players that have a dynamism and give a directness to the team.

"I think all of that thrown into the pot made it a little bit, I felt, fragmented. As time has gone on everything has settled and the team has picked up important results and some really good performances and now we are getting to the stage where we are now all coming together. I would say this feels the most settled of everything since I've been here.

Celtic have three of their last four matches at home. It will go a long way to determining the final resting place of the league flag. That crucial factor is not lost on Rodgers. His men can go six points clear of their title rivals for 24 hours at least. Whenever the opportunity arises to pile on the 'scoreboard pressure' as Rodgers called it then you simply have to take it.

Rodgers said: "The scoreboard pressure is always there. It doesn’t count for anything if you don’t do the job, though. I think that if you’re playing second, you’ll know the other teams’ result, but primarily you have to focus on yourself. It can certainly add weight, especially at this time of the season."

READ MORE: What Celtic's Liam Scales needed in order to sign new deal

Celtic Way:

Daizen Maeda will return to the Celtic squad and Liam Scales will also celebrate inking a new four-year deal as we enter the month of May. It's the month when Scottish football's top prizes are handed out.

Rodgers said: "It’s a very important month. May is always important because that’s when trophies are given out if you’re in this sort of fight and in this sort of battle. I really enjoy it. It’s a great part of the season, but you have to remain focused and concentrated. It’s great for the support to dream and be there with it being so tight, but we have to focus on our job on the field. If we can do that, then we can have a really good finish to the season."

Pressure what pressure? Rodgers positively thrives on it. He said: "I enjoy the pressure. The game - as we all know - has a bit of pressure all at different levels - [it's] how you deal with that.

"I am comfortable in this environment and this pressure situation. For me, my job is to decrease the pressure on the players. It's something that I have always done especially at the biggest clubs because there is so much pressure on these guys, from a variety of places. I don't want to add to that.

"My job is to regulate the pressure for them to let them feel confident in how they play as well as manage their mood and make sure that it's always positive and ready to go and play as best they possibly can."

It's a Celtic collective thing. When the manager, players and supporters work in tandem it's a beautiful thing. Now everybody at the club is focused on the job at hand. As Rodgers said: "I think everyone is now focused on football. We felt a lot of distractions in the first six months of the season, in various ways. I think once the focus has come into football and everyone being together with that then that makes a huge difference.

"The players feel that. The extension to the team, staff supporters, everyone - this is such an incredible fan base here - and when they get behind the team as what we've seen the last few months then you see the strength of that unity of everyone moving forward. For me, looking at it from a managerial perspective has been the real catalyst and hopefully, we can continue that way."

Even as early as December, Rodgers outlined what made the Celtic collective so special. He said: "For the years I have known Celtic what makes them tick is the support that they give the team. It is such an emotional connection. It is everything, especially at a club like Celtic.

"Celtic's history is littered with goals and late goals and a big part of that is down to the fans and the whole stadium getting behind the team. That's what makes Celtic. When you have the manager, the supporters, and the players all on the same page then it is a real force to have in the game."

The Celtic collective can be unstoppable at times. Some might even call it a 'Tour de Force'.