Hearts vs Celtic: Brendan Rodgers says Hoops ‘in a better place’ ahead of top-of-table Premiership clash, live on Sky | Football News

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers insists they do not feel any extra pressure as they prepare to face Premier League leaders Hearts, live on Sky Sports.

A shock defeat to Dundee sees them go to Tynecastle trailing the unbeaten Jambos by five points.

They responded with a 2-1 win at home to Sturm Graz in the Europa League, and Rodgers expects the Hoops to continue to gain momentum.

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“Going to Tynecastle at any time of the season is always a tough game, but we got there in a much better place,” he said.

“The level of performance and intensity in the team was there [vs Sturm Graz]We’ll look to take that into Sunday’s game.

“If you look at some of our games, there’s a bit of luck that played a part in some of the things that went against us. I think if we played Hibs again like we did, we would have won that game. There are other games where things didn’t quite go down for us, and then there were other games like Dundee where we were nowhere near the level of a club like Celtic.

“Fortunately, it’s a long season. Hearts started well, did the fundamentals well. They have a coach in Derek who knows his way around Scottish football and keeps his team well organized and well prepared.

“But there are no difficult stages because we just need to be better within ourselves. Fortunately, we saw that last night, and we can take that real positive mentality now into the game on the weekend.”

Celtic have been dealt a huge blow after news that Cameron Carter-Vickers will be sidelined for “three to five months” due to the injury he sustained during their European win.

“It appears he has suffered an Achilles injury, which could take between three to five months,” Rodgers said.

He added: “We’re just waiting for that to be confirmed, but it’s not great news. But we’ll see where this goes.”

“Cam was a very important member of the team, of course, and was a fantastic centre-back for the club, but what I always think he does is he opens the door and gives someone else a chance.

“This opportunity came to Liam Scales and he has been fantastic during my time here.”