The alarming statistic that ranks Celtic the WORST team in the Scottish Premiership
Neil Lennon's faltering side were punished for slack defending from a free-kick in their 1-0 defeat to Ross County as Jordan White was left unmarked to head home the winning goal in the second half.
According to statistics published by Sky Sports, 43 per cent of the goals Celtic have lost this season have been from set plays, more than any other Premiership side. Livingston are second with 35 per cent, with Dundee United third on 29 per cent.
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Hide AdThe alarming trend has proved a major factor in the club falling 18 points behind Rangers in the title race – a fact acknowledged by Lennon.
“We’re not learning from defending set plays," he said. "Ross County maybe had the ball in our box once or twice the whole second half and we have conceded a free header to the biggest guy in their team. We should be dealing with it.
“It’s been a bugbear and certainly a weakness of ours all season.
“I can’t change it now. Heading the ball is part of the game and defending set plays is part of the game and we haven’t done that anywhere near well enough this season.
“You can tell them ad nauseum on the training ground and you can set them up ad nauseum, but you have got to go and want to head a ball.
“I’m bitterly disappointed because they are good enough to learn. They maybe don’t want to get hurt or throw their body in the way of things. It’s not good enough.
Former Celtic hero John Collins pointed to rotating personnel as a reason behind the damning statistic.
"A lot of that goes down to chopping and changing the back four, chopping and changing goalkeepers," Collins told Sky Sports.
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Hide Ad"But the bottom line is you need your players to be winning headers in the box. It's much harder now than it's ever been defending set pieces because the rules have changed. You can't touch players, you can't do blocks or you get penalties.
"Their record tells you they are poor at picking up and they are not attacking the ball. The coaching team will be absolutely raging about conceding that [Ross County] goal."