John Kennedy insists his comments about Celtic being 'the best side in the country' has been twisted to suit people's narrative.
The Parkhead interim boss caused a stir when he labelled the Hoops as the best team in Scotland on their day.
Borna Barisic was one individual who took exception to his opinion as the Rangers left-back called the claims 'disrespectful' and 'a joke' following his side's dominant title win.
But Kennedy has issued a defiant response and believes what he said was taken out of context. He clarified that Rangers are worthy champions but going into a one-off Scottish Cup clash, he feels Celtic can come out on top.
He said: "My take on it, and I have seen little comments about this in terms of people taking part of the comment and it's careless.
"People go and make a story and a headline out of it taking the comment out of context.
"I was referring to the cup game and on our day we can still be the best performing team in the country because we have that level in us. So that's purely what it is.
"Several times in the last few weeks I have commented on Rangers thoroughly deserving to win the league because they have been the most consistent team.
"They have racked up the most points and been the most consistent with their performances.
"I have shown full respect to Rangers for what they have done.
"I'm entitled to say that on any given day, especially going into a cup tie against Rangers that I fancy us, on our day, to come out on top.
"And some people take a small part of that statement and twist it to suit their narrative. That's careless for me.
"To bring a bit of clarity to that, Rangers deserve to be the champions this season because they have been more consistent than us but come the cup game if we hit top gear and perform well, I fancy us to go and win the game."
