Brendan Rodgers insisted he has “never worked harder” to find on-field answers after Celtic fell eight points behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership after a 3-1 loss in Edinburgh. The home team’s win means the champions have lost back-to-back league games and taken only 17 points from a possible 27 in their latest title defence.

Rodgers denied he has lost appetite for the battle after. “I’ve never worked harder in all my time here,” said Celtic’s manager. “So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we’re at. It’s absolutely fine, it’s still so early. I think that’s the key point in it all.

“Hearts have made a fantastic start, got the points on the board, but there’s so much football to play. We’ve just got to hang in there at this moment, find those performances, find the results and hopefully our levels will improve as the season goes on.”

Rodgers did admit he faces a challenge in changing the mentality of his squad. “We have to fill the players with confidence,” he said. “The context of today is obviously disappointing in the game and the result. But there are 29 games left.”

Derek McInnes again...