Bhoys’ record-equalling draw comes at a cost
celtic 1 Griffiths (43) kilmarnock 1 Jones (60)
Celtic equalled their British domestic unbeaten record of 62 games, but the achievement came at a price.
A hamstring injury picked up by Patrick Roberts rules him out of Tuesday’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich.
The attacker is likely to be missing for several weeks – and that’s a big blow for the Hoops.
Roberts limped off after 30 minutes of a game where his team-mates toiled to break down a resolute Kilmarnock defence.
Brendan Rodgers would have wanted the Englishman to face Bayern but maintains the injury justified his decision to make six changes from his side’s midweek victory over Aberdeen.
He said: “The squad is there to cope with things like this.
“It’s why I’ve got to look at other players in matches like these because there’s always going to be other injuries.
“I have to get players up to a certain level because there are so many games.
“James Forrest will obviously come into the reckoning for Tuesday, but it is a disappointment to lose Pat through injury.”
Despite having to settle for just a point against Kilmarnock, Rodgers paid tribute to his players for equalling the record that had stood for 100 years.
He said: “To do that over the course of 62 games is an absolutely incredible achievement.
“Now they get a chance next week to go out on their own, to make it 63 matches.”
Celtic came up against a brand of football that Rodgers refuses to consider using.
The Parkhead manager is adamant he won’t ask his men to sit back and defend when they come up against teams with a bigger budget.
That scenario only occurs in matches such as the glamour visit of Bayern Munich, but he feels his players develop by trying to attack these sides.
Kilmarnock, however, have very different needs at present.
Steve Clarke has arrived as manager and his first task is to secure top-flight status.
Results like this and their midweek draw against Rangers will go a long way to helping achieve that.
Kilmarnock’s defence would have been occupying seats in the bottom row of the stand if they’d gone any further back in the first half.
However, the home fans expected the floodgates to open when Celtic made a breakthrough just before half-time.
Eboue Kouassi won the ball in his own half and then delivered a pass that allowed Leigh Griffiths to run behind the defence and hit a first-time shot past Jamie MacDonald.
Kilmarnock regrouped at half-time and were a little more adventurous.
Just as they did in the 1-1 draw with Rangers, they scored on the break.
Jordan Jones burst into the opposition half and cracked a low shot off the base of the right-hand post.
The Northern Ireland international went chasing the loose ball on the other side of the penalty area.
He exchanged passes with McKenzie before whipping a shot past Craig Gordon.
Celtic were briefly rattled but recovered their composure to go looking for a winner.
It didn’t come and that left striker Griffiths a frustrated man.
He said: “Although Kilmarnock made it hard for us, we should be winning games like this comfortably.
“It’s a great achievement for everyone associated with the club to equal the unbeaten record, but we would rather have done it with a win than a draw.”
Killie boss Clarke claimed his aim had been to try to beat one of the Old Firm sides over the last four days.
He said: “I’ve never gone into a game thinking I was going to lose.
“There is always a chance of upsets. If you don’t have that belief there’s no point in playing and that has been my message to the players over the last couple of games.
“They have shown that self-belief, which is great for us going forward.
“All I’ve done is to introduce one or two simple principles – a bit of organisation.
“I took Greg Taylor off at the end. He couldn’t walk, but he still didn’t want to come off.
“When you’ve got an honest bunch of players, which I think I’ve been lucky enough to inherit, you’ve always got a chance.
“We won’t get too carried away as it’s only two points.
“In this league you have to win matches and we have another tough one on Tuesday night — my first home game against Hibs.”