The title race isn’t run when you see that Celts defence

IT wasn’t a good afternoon for the blood pressure for anyone associated with Celtic.

And if yesterday’s Hampden rollercoaster is anything to go by, they might need an industrial sized tub of valium for the rest of the title race.

A glance at the crowd after the shootout yesterday was telling.

There was no outlandish celebration or joyous sing songs. Instead, Hoops fans looked absolutely gubbed.

It was like they were completely drained after being put through the wringer for more than two hours.

Aberdeen fans were on their feet hailing the efforts of their side. Celtic supporters were on their knees, gasping for air.

Celtic got the job done against Aberdeen – eventually – but this was a reminder to punters who this week got the feeling green and white ribbons were already being tied to the Premiership trophy.

This is not done yet, especially with a Celtic defence that’s only managed two clean sheets in their last 10 games.

There’s no doubt Brendan Rodgers’ side are in the box seat. The outbreak of bed wetting across the city means the league is theirs to lose now.

But while fans would have needed to lie in a darkened room after the Hampden mayhem, this should also be a massive wake up call.

In fairness to Rodgers, he did say before the Dons game there was nothing won yet and this was no time to get soft.

The problem he’s got though is his backline continues to look a tad squishy.

Aberdeen exposed it again yesterday. Celtic seem to go in to sheer panic whenever a rival side lobs over a cross ball.

Twice they got punished at times when they should have been seeing out the game.

It was criminal to concede the exact same goal on both occasions, with the same problems. Failure to stop the ball in, failure to cover the back post, failure to stop the net being breached.

It might be ultra critical given the Hoops eventually got the job done, and that the bottle shown at the National Stadium is not something that can be taught.

It was certainly a quality that seems to be in shorter supply over the city.

But if the vulnerability remains, then nothing can be taken for granted in the last five matches of the campaign.

All eyes are already on the Old Firm showdown on May 11 – but it’s not going to be a breeze before that stage.

A trip to Dundee and then Hearts at Celtic Park are no gimmes.

Look, the way things have gone at Rangers, there’s every chance they could soil the nappies again if Celtic keep struggling with clean sheets.

That’s not something the Hoops can bank on though.

And the way things are going, we are going to be in for another wild ride when the Old Firm do collide.

The smart money is on another highscoring epic – and neither side looks to be great at keeping hens out of a midden of late.

A lot of the focus is on the wide men at Celtic and the struggles of Yang Hyun-Jun to make much headway, with Nicolas Kuhn and Luis Palma blowing hot and cold. Daizen Maeda is a big miss too for Rodgers.

But with the likes of Kyogo, Adam Idah, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate, Celtic are going to create chances – and they’ll stick a fair few away.

That doesn’t mean they can afford to rely on the forward men to notch three or four a game because there will be a couple needing fished out the net at the other end.

Celtic’s frontmen will be the ones tasked with grabbing the glory in the coming weeks.

But it’s the other end of the pitch that is going to be needed more than anything if Rodgers and his men are going to be clutching a couple of trophies at the end of term.

The problem for Rodgers is that he’s got a Celtic defence that looks a tad squishy