Brendan Rodgers has shrugged off hitting the history books at Celtic Park, insisting that it will mean more to him when it is part of a bigger picture.

The Celtic manager has enjoyed the best start of any Hoops manager after going 19 domestic games unbeaten, but Rodgers was candid in acknowledging what was a below par performance last night.

“It doesn’t hold any weight at this point,” said Rodgers in reference to the stats. “It is a good win and it is very nice. It is a great mark of the player’s concentration and how relentless they have been, their drive to keep going.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers makes history with 1-0 win over Hamilton Accies

“Throughout most of this season, we have played at a very high level. In some games we haven’t and tonight was one of those games where we didn’t hit the heights, which is sometimes understandable with the number of games we are playing.

“I think that mental fitness is important. You think how many games this group has played and the level they have been playing at.

“The level they got to second half against Partick on Friday and having to recover. You want to play fast, free-flowing football but it is not always possible.

“If you can’t, can you still win and that shows the mark of the team. They still got through and got the end result.

“If you are going to succeed you need to have drive, desire and hunger. And we have shown that in bucketloads.”

Read more: Brendan Rodgers makes history with 1-0 win over Hamilton Accies

Celtic ought to have had the game secured ling before what become an unnecessary nervous final ten minutes when Hamilton threatened to capitalise on some slack defending, but Rodgers was satisfied simply to pick up another three points that puts the Parkhead side 11 points clear at the top of the table.

“Hamilton were very well organised,” he said. “They have lost a lot of goals here in the past, so they were never really going to open up.

“Martin [Canning] organised his team very well with a back five, midfield diamond and one up front. They have young players with good energy. So we had to be really patient in the game.”

And the Celtic manager believes that the surface at Celtic Park isn’t best suited to the way he wants his team to play.

“The pitch doesn’t help us, it’s really slow for the type of speed and football that we want to play,” he said. But we got the job done in the end and it’s a good victory for us.

“It’s tough at this time of the season to do that [anything about the pitch]. The game that we promote is about speed and the ball circulating quickly. But, listen, take nothing away from the boys who had to dig in and see it through.”

Last night was only the third time that Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele have started a league game this season, and it doesn’t appear that it is a system that will be used too often.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers makes history with 1-0 win over Hamilton Accies

“Collectively, we weren’t as fluent and that’s my only concern,” said Rodgers. “But I thought both boys worked well. They combined well for the goal. But the collective were not as fluent as we have been “At 1-0, with the chances we had, the game should have been over long before that. But when it’s 1-0 and we make one or two mistakes at the back, it may give them a chance. But we saw it through and that’s huge credit to them.

“The point I make to them is when you are winning have the attitude that you are losing. And keep working.”