Brendan Rodgers has told his Celtic side to tighten up defensively if they have ambitions of being Scottish Premiership champions once again. 

The title race is set to go down to the wire as Celtic lead Rangers by a single point with eight games remaining. Rangers do have a game in hand against Dundee to come plus there's two huge Old Firm clashes on the horizon. 

Rodgers' team have scored the highest amount of goals in the top-flight, 71, which triumph's Rangers' 64. However, defensively they have conceded 23 times compared to their city rivals letting in just 16 league goals this season. 

They have also struggled to rack up more than three wins in a row this season , with consistency proving an issue. And that’s something Rodgers would like to improve ASAP as he attempts to find that perfect balance.

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Speaking to the media following the international break, the Northern-Irishman admitted: "I think from an attacking perspective when we look at all the metrics around that the attacking side of the game has been okay. Probably, the only thing might be efficient and completing opportunities.

"Where we haven't been the same is on the defensive side and I think that is what ultimately allows you to go on consistent runs. If you look at the runs we have gone on that has coincided with both sides of our game being very good where we have been offensively very strong but also closed up the back door and not given too much away.

"That will be key for us and having that defensive mentality not to give too much away but at the same time in attack creating that efficiency hopefully that will give us that consistency through until the end of the season."

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Asked about facing bottom-club Livingston on Sunday having won 3-0 last time they visited the Toni Macaroni Arena, Rodgers said:  "We saw only a few weeks ago that we played Livingston and they gave us a tough game (4-2 Scottish Cup quarter-final win).

"We were very good going forward in the game, but gave up too much on the other side, so that’s something that we will need to be better in.

"Overall, I’m really happy with where we’re at after the international break, with getting players back and the squad looking strong. The players have been really good in training and we look to take that into the game.

"We know it’ll be a challenge for us as it always is at Livingston, but we played well there last time and we will look to do that again."