Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic have no 'excuse' for Hibs stalemate as he addresses strength of bench

Brendan Rodgers refused to be too downbeat after his Celtic side dropped two points at Easter Road, conceding that the midweek match against Atletico Madrid had probably taken a toll but adding that those Champions League exertions should not be used as an excuse.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers cuts a frustrated figure during the goalless draw at Hibs. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The Premiership leaders had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Hibs despite commanding over 70 per cent of possession and conjuring up 21 shots on goal. The fact that only four of those efforts were on target highlighted some of the legginess in the away side.

“It could well be,” Rodgers conceded over his side’s potential European hangover. “But I never wanted to use that as an excuse. Listen, the players had a massive effort midweek but we have to be able to go again, especially with a short rest period.”

Rodgers’ view was supported by captain Callum McGregor. “We don’t want to be a team that makes excuses but I guess it's natural in terms of putting so much into the game the other night when our numbers were massive. It's more a mindset to try and get going because you saw in the last 25 that we sped the game up and looked more like ourselves. So it was probably a combination of physical and mental. We need to take the learning from that.”

The speed of play and the choice of pass in that opening spell was the issue for Rodgers, who has yet to experience a victory in Leith.

“I didn’t think we played with the tempo and the speed that we wanted to until the last 20 odd minutes. We dominated long spells in the game but the first 60 minutes was too slow, from our perspective. We didn’t get them running quick enough.

“Then obviously we made the changes and in the last 25 minutes the tempo increased and we pushed them back. We connected the game much better then.

“We had about 20 attempts on goal, Jamesy [Forrest] hit the crossbar and they made some really good blocks. We just weren’t able to make the breakthrough.”

But with away games at Pittodrie, Ibrox, Fir Park, Tynecastle and Easter Road in the opening tranche of league games, Rodgers said it was important to focus on the positives.

“It’s been a difficult start for us in the league but we’ve come through it well. Today just wasn’t our day. You have to give Hibs credit, they defended well in numbers. You have to respect that but we’ve won eight games and drawn two, the squad is getting better and we’ll get players back. It’s still early but after 10 games I’m pretty pleased.”

But he has said he would be happy to enhance his options from the bench as he looks to press home his side’s advantage in the league while continuing to challenge Europe’s elite.

“Over time every coach or manager would like to strengthen their squad. We’ve got what we’ve got and the players have shown their qualities in this opening period of the season.

“We’re not entitled to win every game we want to. Today is not a day to point the finger at the bench or anyone else. The squad will get stronger, hopefully, in the time I’m here. But today we just didn’t do enough.”