Joe Hart gets Celtic clanger reprieve but Brendan Rodgers admits he is 'assessing everything' amid Marinos goal glut

Brendan Rodgers refused to dig out Joe Hart for his howler in a bonkers friendly defeat to Yokohama F Marinos.

The Celtic keeper let the ball squirm out of his hands to hand the hosts the lead in Japan, and what followed was a goalfest, with Daizen Maeda's hat-trick not enough to prevent Rodgers' side from slipping to defeat in the first fixture of their tour. it was 6-3 by the time David Turnbull pulled one back, but neither defence had covered itself in glory by that point.

Hart was very much at fault for the first though and with his veteran's contract up next summer, succession planning will be underway for a new No 1 between the sticks eventually. But his clanger isn't likely to speed that process up if Rodgers' reaction is anything to go by as the Irishman pinpointed errors long before Hart made a key mistake.

"It's a period of the season where we're only a few weeks in and assessing where we're at. We could have been better for the first goal before it got to Joe. 25 yards out and there's a player turning within our organisation. But I think we made a number of mistakes for the goals that we gave away. I'm assessing everything at the moment."

It was something of a successful homecoming for Maeda despite the defeat given his goals. Rodgers doesn't know his Japanese contingent as well as his predecessor did, but he's loving what they're giving him only a few weeks into his reign.

He added: "These players, their attitude and energy in everything that they do, on and off the pitch, is great. The humility that they have and how they work and present themselves is first class. They're also very talented footballers.

"You saw Daizen. It was a brilliant performance and I'm very happy for him to come back and play so well.