Brendan Rodgers reacts with “no excuse” verdict after rare dropped Celtic points

Brendan Rodgers reacts with "no excuse" verdict after rare dropped Celtic points

Celtic have dropped points in the Scottish Premiership for the second time this season after a 0-0 draw away to Hibernian.

It was a poor all-round performance from the champions, with the players notably laboured after the exertions of Wednesday night’s match at home to Atletico Madrid.

Chances were few and far between in a flat and disrupted first half. Towards the end of the match, there were opportunities for substitute James Forrest, but he couldn’t stick in the back of the net and came closest when he rattled the bar, while Mikey Johnston forced David Marshall into a save from distance.

Overall it was a disappointing afternoon and Celtic won’t be able to afford too many days like today over the course of the season. Thankfully, Celtic’s away form to this point means the result isn’t too damaging – this was always going to be a tough week.

Brendan Rodgers delivers verdict on Celtic draw with Hibs

Rodgers was understandably frustrated in his post-match interview, telling BBC Radio Scotland: “I thought by the time we started to the play with the speed and tempo that we like, it was too late.

“Our idea is always to make a quick start. We were actually good with the ball but we just gave it away needlessly by playing longer passes when we didn’t have to, so we were giving up possession.

“We just didn’t play with enough speed in the game. The last 20 or 25 minutes we did that and you can see the game looks different for us – by that stage we just couldn’t make the breakthrough.

“There’s no excuse. We’re at a club where we’re going to play lots of games and we’re going to have big games mid-week and big games at the weekend. This was another big game for us.

“We’ve played ten games now, we’ve had eight wins and two draws. We’ve been to every ground in the country which is really, really difficult. Today, the speed wasn’t in our game.”

Celtic are now eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership but both Rangers and St Mirren have a game in hand on the Bhoys. We’ll find out tomorrow whether the Ibrox side can close the gap to five at home to Hearts.

The good news is that Celtic can swiftly move on from today’s disappointing. The Buddies visit Celtic Park on Wednesday night and that’s a chance to address some of the issues in today’s performance.

The league leaders must return to winning ways and show this was just a blip. Long-term, the club must ensure that Rodgers has the depth to play high-intensity football in multiple competitions, even when the schedule gets difficult.