Chris Davies, Celtic's assistant manager, has quietly rebuffed Pedro Caixinha's claim that Rangers have the best squad of players in the country.

The incoming Ibrox manager used his inaugural press conference to make the statement, a remark that raised a few eyebrows given the current 33-point lead between Rangers and league leaders Celtic.

“I was told about that, I didn’t actually see it myself," said Brendan Rodgers' number two. "Everyone can have their own opinion on what they think. I think it’s pretty clear for anybody looking at the league, where it’s at. We have certainly had an incredible season judging by that comment. But we’re fine, we’re focused on ourselves, we do our talking on the pitch and we take care of business on the pitch and we’ll always be that way.”

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There has been grounds for cautious optimism at Ibrox this week after the appointment of Caixinha, an appointment which came the day after Rangers secured what was an unpredicted point at Celtic Park.

Davies, though, has maintained that whatever is going on at Rangers will have little impact on the plans that Celtic are making for the forthcoming season.

"Personally we have no interest in what they are doing," he said. "It’s just ‘how can we get better, can we be the best we can be, can we improve our squad, can we improve our play, can we be even better next year’ and other teams can do what they want to do. It’s just about us being the best we can be.”

Celtic have the potential to win a domestic Treble and can, going into the latter stages of the season, still boast an unbeaten record. There has been Champions League football this season,while the club have dropped just four points from a possible 84, but Davies still expects that there will be significant room for improvement.

"We have to keep going and being relentless and driving forward," he said. "It is about the leadership that the manager provides the whole club with, it comes from him and I know him better than anyone. He won’t stop, he will just keep going day after day and that will drive us on.

“I think we have to look at performance indicators really, in terms of how can we improve, what elements of our game do we think we could be better at. You never know exactly if you’re going to have the same winning run or unbeaten run or things like that, but I think what is important is what we can control and sit back in the summer and reflect on where we are, what have we done well, what can we do better, what do we need to add whether it’s in personnel or something tactically. How do we want to develop and evolve and keep that evolution of the team so you are never predictable, you are always a threat. I think that’s the process we will go through.”

Celtic will be expected to further invest in the playing squad this summer, with dialogue already underway about who could be brought to the club in time for next term.

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"It is a daily conversation, really," said Davies. "It’s dialogue. What areas do we feel could improve, what players do we feel could develop more, what things could we add. That’s an ongoing conversation. Brendan often talks about it and I talk with him about it. That is ongoing and you have to make the right decisions in terms of how you go about that and that’s the process we will be going through in the next few months.”