Brendan Rodgers confesses delight at widening Celtic gap over Aberdeen and Rangers

Brendan Rodgers couldn't hide his delight as Celtic stretched their lead over Aberdeen and Rangers.

The Hoops enjoyed the perfect Saturday as their Premiership rivals stuttered earlier in the day, with Gers drawing at home to Dundee United and Aberdeen losing away at St Mirren. Celts took full advantage at Tynecastle by dismantling Hearts 4-1 to move three points ahead of the second-placed Dons and a whopping 11 clear of struggling rivals Rangers.

Rodgers knows there's still a long way to go as his unstoppable side target a clean sweep but the Northern Irishman admits his side have now opened up a commanding gap on the chasing pack.

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He told Sky Sports: "Yeah, I thought we had good spells in the first half, but the second half we were just much better and much cleaner with our ball possession. Like you say, if your nearest rivals drop points, of course you want to take advantage of that. It's still very early in the season, but still this early it's good to get the win.

"Everyone would have looked at this as a really tough game, but we've come here, managed the game really well and got the three points. I'm really, really pleased and we've just got to keep our focus and keep our intensity."