Brendan Rodgers believes that Celtic defender Michael Lustig was the only player to come out of the defeat to Hearts with any credit on Sunday afternoon.
The 31-year-old was part of a backline that were ripped apart at Tynecastle to end their 69-game unbeaten run in domestic matches.
The Bhoys crumbled to a 4-0 loss against Craig Levein’s spirited team as they made the most of the home advantage.
Harry Cochrane, Kyle Lafferty and Manuel Milinkovic (two) scored for the hosts as they produced a huge shock result in the Scottish Premiership clash.
Celtic manager Rodgers explained post-match that Swedish centre-back had a good game despite the defeat, but feels the rest of his defence really struggled.
Centre-Backs Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata particularly struggled to deal with Hearts’ striker Lafferty as he put immense pressure on them.
“That’s fundamentally what you have to do to win a game, you have to be able to defend well. I thought Michael Lustig was good but otherwise we didn’t cope so well,” Rodgers said, as quoted by the club’s official twitter account.
? BR: "That’s fundamentally what you have to do to win a game, you have to be able to defend well. I thought Mikael Lustig was good but otherwise we didn’t cope so well."
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 17, 2017
OPINION
Celtic’s humbling away to Hearts will be a major wake up call to them and could force Rodgers into making a few changes. The 44-year-old manager clearly knows that several off his players have looked off in recent weeks and once again many individuals were guilty of stupid mistakes, with the exception of Lustig. Celtic were given a warning sign earlier in December after losing at home to Anderlecht 1-0 in the Champions League, while they had to fight for a point away to Hibernian recently. The defeat to Hearts has finally ended an incredible long run and it will now be up to Rodgers to force a reaction.