Brendan Rodgers reacts to dismal Celtic display vs Kilmarnock

Brendan Rodgers has been giving his reaction to a very poor afternoon for Celtic after losing 2-1 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

Celtic found themselves 1-0 up by the interval after Matt O’Riley pounced on a saved Callum McGregor shot.

However, a Nat Phillips own goal after 75 minutes and a dramatic winner from Matty Kennedy in the 88th minute provided Killie with their second win over the Bhoys this season.

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic defeat to Kilmarnock

The manager was clearly unhappy in the aftermath, as you’d expect. He wants more consistency from his Celtic team.

Rodgers said [BBC Radio Scotland]: “I thought the performance first half was very good. We scored a very good goal and could have had more goals. Our intensity was good.

“The second half we never got started. We played the game that Kilmarnock wanted us to play instead of playing our game. We got rid of the ball, second half, instead of passing it and that meant we couldn’t sustain any pressure. We got undone with an unfortunate own goal and a second goal we didn’t defend well enough.

“You have to be able to deal with that pressure, so when a team comes on to you or a team is pressing you, you have to be able to manipulate the ball and figure that out. That was the biggest disappointment in that second half.”

“We’re a little bit inconsistent at the moment. The first half at St Johnstone we weren’t good enough and the second half we were there – it was the reverse today. We can’t make excuses with injuries, we have good players, we showed in the first half we can play to a good level, the second half we didn’t.”

Celtic have finished the weekend five points clear of Rangers, although the Ibrox side hold a game in hand on the reigning champions.

There’s now no room for error ahead of the winter break, including in a big derby at Celtic Park at the end of the month. This is a critical period in the context of the season as a whole.

Rodgers needs to start finding the answers to deliver that consistency he craves. Today was far from good enough across the board.