Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers blasts mindset of his side as they crash to shock defeat by St Johnstone

Brendan Rodgers questioned the mentality of his players after a dismal display at St Johnstone saw them lose to the Perth men for the first time in nine years.

Requiring a victory to set up a potential league clincher against Kilmarnock on Saturday, Celtic fell behind to Daniels Balodis’ early header then struggled to get to grips with the task of seeing off a side which started the day 52 points behind them.

Having previously expressed his concern at the way his side were starting some matches, Rodgers admitted he’s increasingly worried that certain individuals now seem to be in a comfort zone.

‘It’s mentality,’ he offered after the 1-0 defeat. ‘It’s a group that has mental strength. I’ve been in teams, especially up here, where you just power your way through the season, right to the very end. And there’s maybe a few that are comfortable.

‘When you’re comfortable, you become a bit timid and you lose duels and you lose the fight.

‘And you can never be that. You can never be that if you want to be a top player. So collectively, that’s the annoyance.

‘It’s easily done. You can go into the game and look for an easy game, top v bottom. But the very best players are right on it from minute one.

‘And I’m not talking about boys like Callum McGregor, who deals with expectation, who deals with being the underdog in the Champions League and guys like that.

‘But there’s absolutely no doubt, around some of our starts, we have some players going in looking for an easy game. And that’s what we need to look at.’

Rodgers refused to accept the fact that his side remain 13 points ahead of Rangers as an explanation for such a poor performance.

‘It can’t be,’ he stressed. ‘I cannot use that as an excuse. Ibrox, yeah, when we lost the game there on January 2.

‘Okay, 16 points, I can look at that, or whatever it was. But no, no, it’s happened too many times. Like I say, there’s a fantastic group of players, good guys, who this year in the main have been very, very good.

‘But I don’t like when I see this here. And for me, it’s just happened too many times.’

While Celtic will close out the title with another two wins, Rodgers feels the prospect of facing St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-final should serve as a warning against any complacency.

‘There’s still work to be done,’ he said. ‘Listen, I don’t threaten the players. The players have been brilliant for me this season.

‘I don’t like us to just get over the line. They’ve been brilliant, but this side of it, I don’t like. And one, we haven’t won the league yet. Yes, we’re 13 points clear, we’ve got six games to go.

‘But there’s still a lot of work to do. And my feeling is, and this is what I said before the game, top teams, they have talent, they have a system, and they have a spirit and an ambition to win. The third one has been a wee bit ropey for us.

‘There clearly is talent. But before any of that, there has to be a desire and a mentality. And a couple of times, just a little bit timid, and that’s one of the big pitfalls to succeed for me. You just can’t be timid.’

Rodgers admitted that the issue was now serious enough for him to look at in the close season.

‘I want to firstly give huge credit to St Johnstone. Sometimes that can get bypassed in the result and in our performance. I thought they fought for every ball from the first whistle,’ he said.

‘They get the goal and then they defend for their lives in the second half. So, it’s a huge credit to them and congratulations to them. For us, poor start to the game, but not the first time.

‘Not the first time and this is something for me that we will look at, certainly in the summer.

‘We got three stands that stood full of our own supporters, expectant. And that’s what you have to deal with as a Celtic player and we didn’t deal with that at all.

‘My intention here is always to sprint over the line. And I’ve done that before and I know what it looks like.

‘But I don’t like that side of it in this team. Because for Celtic, it’s winning in the best way you possibly can. Not just chugging your way over the line. So, we have no excuse. We have no excuse. It’s not about tiredness.’