Celtic dropped points in the Scottish Premiership for just the third time this season after a 1-1 draw against Partick Thistle at Celtic Park on Wednesday night.

After going so long this season without being beaten, perhaps teams are finally figuring out to play against the Hoops or perhaps it's just a case of Brendan Rodgers taking their foot off the pedal slightly.

Important to stress of course they ARE still unbeaten, but heading into the last part of the season, is that goal really a priority for the Hoops?

They arguably have more important ambitions over the next six months and in our view they should absolutely be focusing on those, even if it means their current form dips slightly.

With the title in the bag, is their much harm to making important changes if it's to the long-term benefit of the club?

Here are THREE things that Rodgers should have his eye on, instead of the historic unbeaten record...

Rest is badly needed

It's no surprise that Brendan Rodgers rested many of his key players for Wednesday night's match against Partick Thistle.

Scott Brown, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong all did not feature after a busy schedule for club and country and although it impacted on the performance, it's a necessary step to take to manager their fitness ahead of incredibly important UEFA Champions League qualifiers this summer.

Apart from potentially two matches at Hampden at the end of the season, those summer dates will be the club's most important fixtures over the next few months and everything should be done to protect players ahead of those challenges, especially as international matches are scheduled in the weeks prior.

Celtic have a number of international stars on their books, making the balance between rest and work very tricky indeed for Brendan Rodgers and his staff to figure out.

The next generation

Celtic have a number of young guns ready to burst onto the scene at Celtic Park and the closing fixtures of the league season present an excellent opportunity to test their readiness for more important challenges next season.

Brendan Rodgers gave his first start to Eboue Kouassi on Wednesday night and it's with next season in mind that he'll be seeing action most likely. He's unlikely to feature in the semi-final or potential final coming up, but is being played in order to get up to speed and challenge for first team places next term.

The same could be said about the likes of Jack Aitchison and Calvin Miller in the coming weeks, both of whom have managed to get minutes on the pitch for the Scottish champions so far next season.

If it results in a loss, then so be it, but now is the perfect time to blood youngsters given there's nothing massive on the line, just a manufactured record.

Build towards a peak

The reality is, the only matches that matter between now and the end of Celtic's season is the showdowns at Hampden to determine the winner of Scotland's most prestigious knockout competition, the Scottish Cup.

Every game between now and their match against Rangers at the end of April should be in preparation for that with fitness and rotation schedules formulated to gain maximum advantage when the two face off the biggest derby of the season so far.

Bringing back Tom Rogic on Wednesday night will be a big boost to their attacking set-up and he should get games in the coming weeks in preparation for Hampden, even if it means he's not quite at his best or able to impact on results as consistently as before his injury.

While the unbeaten record would be nice to have, it means little compared to a rare domestic treble of trophies.