Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers on 'tough' Hearts clash as he hails 'consistent' Hoops side

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Hearts are back in action this weekend following the international break

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is expecting a ‘tough’ game at Hearts this weekend. The Jambos welcome the Hoops to Tyncastle following the international break.

Neil Critchley’s side are currently sat in 11th place in the Scottish Premiership table and will be eager to rise up the league over the coming weeks and months. They narrowly lost 1-0 away at Rangers at Ibrox last time out so will want to bounce back.

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Hearts’ upcoming opponents Celtic are top along with Aberdeen. The Hoops are yet to lose in the league so far this season in 11 outings.

Speaking ahead of their trip to Edinburgh, Rodgers has said: “It’s always been a tough game there. I think my last evening game there was actually with Liverpool in the Europa League. Every other game has been an early kick-off. I look forward to us getting together again. It’s a great game to get started. It’s always a tough game at Tynecastle and we’ll be ready and prepared for it.”

Rodgers believes his current squad is faster than his former Invincibles team: “This team will be faster. I would say there’s more speed in this team. The team I had first time around were very good in their possession, very good in terms of scoring goals, and they were a very strong group mentality.

“This is a different group, a different generation. It’s nearly a decade since 2016 and football changes. It’s a different group of personalities. That team I had were super successful and that first season was history making in terms of what the players did. It’s about this team creating their own history. I’m so pleased with how it’s gone but we still have a lot of work to do.”

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‘Much better flow’...

The ex-Liverpool and Leicester City manager thinks his vision with the Hoops is starting to take shape: “It is much more like what I would expect. I think when I came in last summer it was probably the first time I’d come into a club where they’d had that success as such. I was coming into a team that had won a Treble, and my idea was to observe that team and see how they worked. As you go along you make tweaks to fit your own template. Obviously by the second half of the season we were in much better flow.

"Come the pre-season it allowed me to establish those key principles and ideas we see in the team now. Along with hard work, it hopefully allows you to get that consistency. That’s a great testament to the firstly the players, the coaching staff, and then everyone pulled together in that same vision so we are getting a consistent level.”

Hearts will have to be at their best to get something against a Celtic side who are carrying momentum at the moment. Critchley has won three of his first seven matches in charge since he was chosen as their replacement for Steven Naismith, having previously worked at Blackpool and QPR.

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