Derek McInnes expresses Celtic shock and states what is ‘unusual’ about Brendan Rodgers’ side

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Celtic’s push for a Treble begins at the weekend ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock.

On Tuesday night, Celtic recorded a 3-3 draw at Dundee, but the lead at the top of the Premiership table is still pretty healthy.

Rangers beat Aberdeen 3-0 at Ibrox on Wednesday night and now the gap is 13 points. Nothing to worry about for those at Parkhead.

Add in the fact that Celtic already have the League Cup in hand, then Rodgers is on course to win another Treble in Glasgow after doing just that in his first spell.

But, as of right now, Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock stand in their way, as the duo will lock horns on Saturday evening in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup.

McInnes tuned into Celtic’s goal-fest at Dens Park and admitted that he was taken aback by what he saw.

Derek McInnes surprised by Celtic’s ‘unusual’ defensive fragilities

Up until the New Year, Celtic were pretty strong from a defensive aspect and they had only conceded four goals in the league.

But then that Ibrox horror show started a ball rolling that has resulted in some iffy performances, especially on the road.

McInness admitted that watching the game against Dundee, he found it out-of-character and ‘unusual’ for Celtic to be so poor from a defensive aspect, as he told his pre-match press conference.

“I thought uncharacteristically, Celtic didn’t have the same confidence with their defensive work, which is unusual for them because normally they have been pretty solid,” said McInnes.

“It was a hell of a game (against Dundee). A brilliant game and I think Dundee deserve a lot of credit for that. To try and breach that Celtic defence three times. I thought they countered well. I thought they used their physicality in the set-plays, no more so than for their third goal.

“Clubs like ourselves. We have to try and use everything we have got just to try and upset the momentum of that. Be solid enough and be confident enough to play within our shape. Sometimes, it’s a different game when you play at Celtic Park. We have seen evidence here (Rugby Park). We beat Celtic twice last year. We did a lot of things right, created so many chances and probably should have won the game a couple of months ago. Going to Celtic Park it’s always a wee bit more of a challenge for clubs like ourselves.”

Celtic’s defensive stats

Kasper Schmeichel replaced Joe Hart in between the sticks in the summer and he made a stunning start to life as a Celtic player.

But, in recent weeks, he will have been disappointed by the performances in front of him because these defensive fragilities can’t transcend into Europe.

Despite that, when you look at the overall picture, Celtic are still looking strong from a defensive aspect and it’s just the high bar set that has resulted in recent criticism.

Competition		Games	Goals conceded	Clean Sheets
	Premiership	23	11	17
	UEFA Champions League	6	10	2
	League Cup	4	6	1