Brendan Rodgers says that Celtic’s comfortable lead at the top of the Premiership is no excuse for their lacklustre showing as they eventually lost an epic Old Firm contest to Rangers at the death.
The Celtic manager was critical of the lack of intensity his team showed when they lost at Ibrox in January, citing their healthy advantage at the top of the table as a possible factor in their shoddy display on that day.
But after another uncharacteristically poor performance against their city rivals – particularly in an error-strewn first half – Rodgers was in no mood to give his men any allowances for a second derby defeat in a row.
When asked if the 16-point gap between the sides at the start of play had been a factor in Celtic’s defeat, Rodgers replied: “It can't do. It can't do. There's no excuse. If it's one-point gap or 16 or whatever it is, there's no excuse. There's no excuse.
“We didn't defend well enough. We weren't sharp enough mentally in the game, with and without the ball. And if you aren’t, then a good team can punish you.
“We had a much better second half. I thought the second half, again, it looked like we were in the flow of the game, we get the goal and it feels like a matter of time.
“But you shouldn't then lose the game from that position.”
Rodgers admits that the nine goals his team have shipped to Rangers in their last three meetings is a concern.
“Yeah, that's something to think about for sure,” he said.
“I mentioned that [to the players] afterwards. You need to be better. You need to be defensively much better, much more secure.
“But I think also part of that comes from the ball, giving the ball away and not dominating it like we do. You hand a little bit of onus to the opposition. But ultimately, the three goals were disappointing goals.
“It's just clarity of thinking. The corner [for the first goal], we were in good position. The young guy (Nicolas) Raskin, he’s done it a few times, he's quick across the ground and gets the contact. But we're goal-side, so we have to deal with that better.
“The second one, again, the ball goes back and then we've got to open up the pitch quicker. We end up, it goes out for a throw-in for them. So, we're in control of that.
“And then, the third one is a punt up the pitch, we miss the first header, a slip. In fairness, the guy finishes it really well. But we can deal with those things much better.
“It's just one of those days that you have sometimes.”
While stressing that he wasn’t offering any excuses for the Celtic defeat, Rodgers did concede that the absence of his captain, Callum McGregor, didn’t help his team.
“I think we missed Callum today,” he said.
“I don't think there's any doubt in that.
“I mentioned before about the tactical balance he gives the team. He's the guy that opens up everything for us. His movement, his quality, his touch gets us through the pitch nice and quickly.
“So, you could see it wasn't anywhere near as fluid. That's the reality. But, others have to step up because if he's not playing, then we need to be better.”
