“Not a surprise”; Brendan Rodgers shares what he thinks about Steven Naismith and Hearts

This season’s Celtic losses against Hearts have cost them dearly. That six-point swing alone would have eliminated the Bhoys from the title race if things had turned out differently.

This season, the Tynecastle side may still have more influence over silverware selection. At Celtic Park later this afternoon, Celtic knows they have to be at the top of their game.

Chris Sutton is concerned about Lawrence Shankland, while Brendan Rodgers has called for patience in the stands as his team shoots for victory.

Rodgers isn’t dwelling too much on the previous losses to Hearts but was asked about those tussles directly in a pre-match media conference.

The Celtic boss is under no illusions that his team must turn up this time to get a result

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic and Hearts tussles

He said [Celtic FC]: “I won’t get bogged down in the last two games that we have had against them – one at home and one away. To me, this is very much about ourselves and our focus. Hearts have done well and we played a really good game against them earlier on in the season, for various reasons the other two games have not been so good.

“This is us at home now in the final stretch of the season, super-motivated and hungry to play well. If we can do that and play well, we want to pick up all three points.

“We never turned up in the game we lost at home. We were nowhere near the tempo and the level that we would want to be at coming off the back of a Champions League week. Still, we had enough of the ball and didn’t give away too much apart from the corner and the free-kick that they scored from. We gave away virtually nothing in the game. It was just that our attacking play and tempo were too slow and we didn’t cause them enough problems.

“In the last game, we started well and the sending-off and penalty changed the game, of course, but my players kept going. Circumstances within the game meant that the result wasn’t for us. I’d expect us to be on a more similar level to what we were earlier in the season.

“Steven Naismith has done very well. I expect Hearts to be up there due to the size of the club and what they’ve done in their history up here in Scotland. So, it’s not a surprise for me that they’re up there, but also for Steven coming in, in his first managerial job and the pressure of leading a club like Hearts. I think he’s done very, very well.”

Celtic must show Hearts their true selves again

Hearts are one of only two Scottish teams to defeat Celtic this season, alongside Kilmarnock. Other losses this term have come against Lazio, Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord.

The Bhoys face both of these clubs in this final run of four matches, which is why nobody is celebrating a title win yet. Celtic still have to prove their true title credentials here.

Rodgers is right, today’s match is all about how the league leaders approach it. If Celtic turn up motivated, energetic and ready for the fight then Hearts will find it difficult to prevent defeat.

It will be a big step towards the title win if the Edinburgh outfit are comfortably taken care of, like they were in October.

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