Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted "we are the team that is chasing" as he responded to a potential title race with Heart of Midlothian.
The Parkhead club fell to a 2-0 loss to Dundee on Sunday, meaning Hearts' five-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership remained intact.
Celtic visit Tynecastle in the next league match of the season, where Hearts could stretch the gap to eight points, but know even a loss wouldn't move them from top spot.
š£ļø āBitterly disappointing, both in result and performanceā
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers gives his post-match thoughts after defeat away to Dundee ā¤µļø pic.twitter.com/UMFNJan2Ykā Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 19, 2025
After the loss to Dundee, Rodgers was quizzed on whether he believes Celtic are in a real title battle this season.
The Celtic manager said: "It's still obviously very early, but there is no doubt Hearts have made a really good start.
"And we are the team that is chasing in this moment.
"But we have to go away and analyse where we are at, and as I said before that game, we have a really important game on Thursday so that will be our focus."
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Looking ahead to the top-of-the-table clash next weekend, Hearts boss Derek McInnes said: "Itāll take care of itself. I was asked about it before and it was annoying me a wee bit but now we can look forward to it. Itāll be a brilliant atmosphere.
"All the challenges weāve had, weāve kept coming up with the answers, but Sunday will be the toughest challenge of all.
"Weāre in a good place. The players should be pleased with their performances. The crowd will help us, the confidence will help us, but we have to keep maintaining and improving our performance."
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