Pundit thinks Celtic need to answer difficult question amid growing ‘worry’ at Parkhead

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Celtic fans have been left with more questions than answers following yet another instance of dropped points at Parkhead against Kilmarnock.

Brendan Rodgers will be racking his brains as to where everything has gone wrong, given that his side once held a comfortable lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Nevertheless, the Bhoys have scored just three goals from open play over their last four league matches, and their lack of creative intuition once again cost them dearly last weekend.

Kilmarnock managed to record more shots on target and created superior chances on their visit to Glasgow, indicating that their current tactical framework isn’t maximising the output of key players.

At present, Rodgers’ side is averaging 2.38 points per game, which is more than the median across his last two seasons in charge before leaving for Leicester City.

Despite this, there is a wider acknowledgement that his competition for the league title is far greater this time around.

It remains to be seen whether this rate of accumulation will be enough to deliver a third successive league trophy.

Gordon Dalziel says Celtic have difficult questions to answer

For the majority of 2023/24, Celtic have kept Rangers at arm’s length; however, the gap had progressively started to close long before they were overtaken yesterday.

Now, the Bhoys are in unfamiliar territory, faced with a scenario where they will need to play catch-up over the coming weeks.

Before a ball is kicked on Sunday against Motherwell, Celtic may end up five points behind if Rangers see off Heart of Midlothian the day previous.

Pundit Gordon Dalziel has signalled that Rodgers’ side have to show significant ‘character’ to chase their rivals down, though he doesn’t believe this will be an easy endeavour amid growing ‘worry’ emerging due to their recent performances.

Dalziel stated [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard]: “This is where the worry comes in from the Celtic side of it.”

He then added: “They are going to be the chasers. Have they got the character, have they got the players and have they got everything about them to do that?

“That’s a question they are now getting asked. It will be interesting to see if they can answer it.”

Celtic have to string together some winning momentum

The time for faltering is well and truly over as Celtic hunt for a domestic double, which is currently on a knife-edge heading into the season run-in.

On too many occasions, the Bhoys have failed to seize the initiative in winnable league matches, eventually being punished for their inability to capitalise during spells of intense pressure.

Looking ahead, this is a trend that cannot be allowed to continue if Rodgers has designs on adding another Scottish Premiership trophy to the Parkhead trophy cabinet.