Brendan Rodgers has insisted he has “never worked harder” to find on-field answers after Celtic fell eight points behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership with a 3-1 defeat in Edinburgh. The champions have now lost back-to-back league games and taken only 17 points from a possible 27 in their title defence.
Rodgers denied any loss of appetite for the battle, stating: “I’ve never worked harder in all my time here. The motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we’re at. It’s absolutely fine, it’s still so early.” He added that there is “so much football to play” and that Celtic must “hang in there” and find performances and results.
The Celtic manager acknowledged the challenge of changing his squad’s mentality. “We have to fill the players with confidence,” he said. “The context of today is obviously disappointing, but there are 29 games left.”
Hearts manager Derek McInnes played down talk of a first title since 1960, noting Celtic’s financial advantages. “They spend millions and pay millions in wages, a lot more than we can ever do,” he said. “There is a long way to go.”
