Rodgers enjoying 'exciting period' as Celtic open gap at top of Scottish Premiership

Brendan Rodgers says it is an "exciting period" for Celtic as they moved three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 4-1 win over Hearts.

Celtic made a sluggish start to the match and were lucky not to find themselves behind at the break as Blair Spittal and Lawrence Shankland spurned glorious chances for Hearts.

However, they came out revitalised in the second half as Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn scored twice in five minutes to put them 2-0 up on the hour mark.

Adam Idah scored twice, netting on either side of Musa Drammeh's consolation, with his second coming from the penalty spot in the 94th minute.

Celtic have now won all seven of their away league games this season by an aggregate score of 22-2.

After Aberdeen's first loss of the season earlier on Saturday, Celtic gave themselves some breathing space at the top of the league, while also moving 11 points clear of rivals Rangers, who sit third.

Rodgers was delighted with Celtic's response to the first half, praising the players' adaptation.

"I'm really pleased. Tynecastle is a really tough place so to win 4-1 was really pleasing," Rodgers said.

"Second half, we figured out their press. They have normally been pressing in 4-4-2 but changed it slightly. It just meant we had to drop a man in our build-up play.

"We had some good moments in the first half, but once we were able to play through that pressure, I thought in the second half we were excellent.

"It's a very exciting period for us. All the players know they will play, they just need to be ready."