Brendan Rodgers has sent a clear message to his Celtic players after the disappointing 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone, a result that ended any hopes of wrapping up the league title at Celtic Park next weekend.

The Irishman expressed his frustration with his team’s lack of urgency and focus, particularly in the opening stages of the game in a loss to the team bottom of the Scottish Premiership, one of the most surprising results of the season.

Rodgers said: (Sky Sports), “We should be desperate for the points, but they made it really, really difficult for us. We just started off too soft at the beginning.

“You know, we’ve got three sides of the ground today, all expectant. But I think what it’s telling me over the course of this season, especially this part of the season, is that expectation versus the underdog and the players that can cope with that here at Celtic, because it’s easy when you’re the underdog and you’re playing in Champions League games and you’re fighting and running.

“Playing at Celtic is about being able to deal with both and the expectation and how we’ve started games, especially over this last little period, hasn’t been good enough. But that tells me something as a coach.

“So, no, not overly surprised.”

The defeat was a strong reminder that the team must handle the pressure of being favourites in every game they play better. While they have shown moments of brilliance throughout the season, the recent run of defeats since the new year has raised questions about their ability to cope with the weight of expectation.

With Celtic on the verge of a 55th league title, since the new year, instead of racing to the finish line, they have stalled with a number of surprise defeats. The season has been the opposite of last year in some ways, starting strong and finishing slowly.