'Something to think about' - Brendan Rodgers airs his Celtic concerns as one player reserved for praise

The hosts looked to have been on course to seal at least a draw from the afternoon after clawing back a two-goal first-half deficit. But a late winner from Hamza Igamane put Rodgers in an unusual position. He has never lost successive games against the Ibrox side and this was only his third Old Firm defeat in 22 matches. Celtic have conceded three goals against Rangers in each of their last three meetings.

“That's something to think about for sure,” he said. “I mentioned that 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 (usually) do. You hand a little bit of onus to the opposition. But ultimately, the three goals were all disappointing goals.

“I think we missed Callum today,” he added. “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.”

Rodgers did give pass marks to centre-half Maik Nawrocki, who stepped in for the injured Auston Trusty for his first taste of league football this season. “I told him that afterwards in the changing room," he said. "There weren't too many highlights for us. But certainly for him, for a guy that's not played virtually for a year, it shows you how well he's trained and how professional he's been. I thought he did really, really well to last the game.”

Rodgers refused to point to Celtic’s ascendancy in the league, where they still lead Rangers by 13 points, when seeking an explanation for the poor first half and ultimate defeat. “There's no excuse,” he said. “If it's a one-point gap or 16 or whatever it is, there's no excuse. There's no excuse.

“We didn't defend well enough,” he added. “We weren't sharp enough mentally in the game, with and without the ball.

“And if you don't, then a good team can punish you. We had a much better second half. We get the goal and it feels like a matter of time. But you shouldn't then lose the game from that position."