Rodgers: Europe not cause of Celtic flop

CELTIC boss Brendan Rodgers refused to let his side’s busy fixture list be an excuse for defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle.

The visitors lost 1-0, just three days after drawing 1-1 in the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.

Former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty grabbed the winner in the 56th minute.

Lafferty met Uche Ikpeazu’s ball in from the right first time on the volley, and his low shot from just outside the area arrowed into the bottom corner.

Rodgers (right) said: “Three games in seven days at this stage of the season is very tough.

“But it’s no excuse. We have to be able to cope with that. That’s the challenges we have.

“I feel we coped with the physicality very well.

“[Hearts boss] Craig Levein’s teams are physical and they get up there early.

“But I thought we coped with that well and played with a calmness in the first half where we created chances.

“We started the second half really well. When you cope with that physicality, you don’t then expect to give the ball away, so that was our disappointment.

“Under no pressure, we gave it away and they broke through. We still had enough time to cause them problems, but we never really affected the game in the final third of the pitch and ended up losing a really tight game.” In Scottish League One, Brechin ended an epic run of 470 days without a win, when they beat East Fife 1-0.