“That's where you get judged at this level, when you work at Celtic or Rangers – I think you get judged in these games. I saw Giovanni van Bronckhorst get to a European final and then lose his job shortly after because he was losing to Celtic.” .
Rodgers is keen to improve on the performance in the last Premier League Cup final, when Celtic won but Rangers came close until they lost on penalties after a 3-3 draw with Hampden.
“That's a big barometer here for any manager and I'm fully aware of that, I always have been,” he said of Old Firm derbies. “Winning against your biggest rivals is very important, as is your club's progress.
“You want to win every game and you want to perform at your best. For me, I love the occasion, I love the game – it's a special match and I always want to win it.”
“I have players who know what it means in this game, who know what it takes to win, and who love me and are committed to making it happen.”
Celtic captain Callum McGregor says they hope to learn from a close Hampden final.
“We will take another look at the game and see where we can be better, and the areas we can exploit and try to cause them problems,” he said.
“The important thing in cup finals is to get through it and win, and then you can sort out the little details when you get to the next game. I think we've done that since that game.
He added: “We want to perform better than we did in the cup final, and impose ourselves on the match and perform better than we did in the final.”
“It's a derby, you want to win, so no matter where you are in the table, everyone wants to win.”