Joe Hart accepts blunder cost Celtic against RB Leipzig as defender’s injury return timeline revealed

Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart admits his horrendous blunder against RB Leipzig cost his team mates dearly in the 3-1 defeat - but stood by manager Ange Postecoglou playing style.

The vastly experienced stopper handed the Bundesliga side their second goal at the Red Bull Arena after hitting a mis-placed pass straight to Dominik Szoboszlai who fed Andre Silva to slot home, just 37 seconds after the hosts had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside.

Hart’s mistake allowed the Germans to some breathing space before Portuguese international Silva capped off another sweeping move in which Christopher Nkunku’s brilliant raking pass found Mohamed Simakan to provide the cusioned assist.

The Scottish champions have been encouraged to play out from the back under Postecoglou and Hart insists he was simply trying to follow the Australian’s instructions.

Speaking on BT Sport, he said: “I am at fault for the second goal - no doubt about it. But that’s the way the manager wants us to play and that is how we play.

“Sometimes it is going to hurt us but most of the time, as we showed, it worked to get us through the press and get opportunities to score.

“They were pressing with three and I wasn’t sure whether to go to the centre half or Greg Taylor. I went for Greg and I missed.

“Those are the simple fact, but this is high-level football and something that I love playing. You make a mistake and you get punished.”

The 35-year-old former Manchester City and Tottenham keeper was beaten five times in Saxony, with VAR ruling out two of the hosts strikes.

Celtic did create opportunities of their own but failed to make capitalise on them - a similar story to their opening two Champions League group stages games against Real Madrid (3-0) and Shakhtar Donetsk (1-1).

Hart added: “There were big moments, there was a lot of pressure. It was an intense game, a good game between two teams playing good football.

“We came unstuck more than they did. Do we take encouragement from the chances we are creating? Of course, we aren’t going to back down.

“We are here to try to do something special and we will continue to do that. We now have two big games at home and we believe if we play to our potential we can win them. If we do it will look different.”

Meanwhile, Celtic have sought detailed advice regarding Carl Starfelt fitness timescale after sending the defender to see a specialist in London.

The Swedish centre-back has been ruled out of action with a knee injury sustained during the first Glasgow derby of the season on September 3rd.

GlasgowWorld understands the Parkhead club hope to have the 27-year-old back in training over the coming weeks, but he could face an extended period on the sidelines if the update report isn’t positive.

Starfelt has endured an injury-hit start to the campaign after previously suffering a hamstring injury on international duty in June, which forced him to miss their opening two Premiership games.