Brendan Rodgers will be "hurting" over recent Celtic results and the criticism he has been receiving. 

This is according to Parkhead hero Jackie McNamara who insists the 50-year-old will be desperate to fix things.

Celtic scored two late goals against Motherwell to clinch a 3-1 win at Parkhead and keep themselves within touching distance of league leaders Rangers.

And McNamara feels the criticism being levelled at the manager and players is justified, however, he has backed the Northern Irishman to turn things around.

"Brendan will be hurting after certain comments last week," he told BBC. "The fans weren't happy after the (Kilmarnock) game.

READ MORE: Celtic's Adam Idah could be a Giakoumakis-Kyogo hybrid

"They haven't been convincing, no matter how you dress it up. He's had injuries to deal with but so have a lot of other teams.

"They haven't been the same team, there's no doubt about that. Everything they're doing is a lot more possession-based, it's a different setup.

"Teams have caught onto that so they need to find ways of getting in behind quicker. 

"The system doesn't seem to change a lot during the games, maybe just the personnel. But they need to do things so much quicker to cause teams problems.

"Teams are setting up in a certain way and finding ways to hurt them. Kilmarnock were excellent against them.

"The fans were frustrated with that, they pressed them high as well. Brendan will be feeling the heat from that, and obviously they've got a challenger this year in Rangers, who have got a new manager and are in a good run of form."