Stand-in Celtic boss Gavin Strachan refused to concede the title race despite more dropped points, as he revealed Neil Lennon 's post-match message to the squad.
Rangers will move 23 points clear at the top of the Premiership if they beat struggling Motherwell on Sunday, and even if the champions win all their games in hand the gap will be 14.
The initiative was further handed to Steven Gerrard's side after a depleted Celtic squad struggled to a 0-0 draw at home to Livingston.
A total of 13 players have been told to self-isolate after being identified as close contacts of Covid-positive Christopher Jullien, with manager Lennon and his assistant John Kennedy also quarantining.
That meant coach Strachan took charge for the second match in a row but the Parkhead gaffer was still very much in the loop.
Strachan said on BBC Radio Scotland: "He's relayed his thoughts to me before and after, I just passed that on to the players.
"(He said) we just didn't impose our style of play on the game enough.
"It was a tough afternoon, as we spoke about before the game they (Livingston) are a team that is playing very well and feeling good about themselves.
"They made it really difficult for us and imposed their style of play on the game more than we did.
"We as staff expect a little bit more from what we had out there.
"We were quite disappointed with the first half performance, a little bit happier with moments in the second half where we got more control of the game but we certainly wanted more control and more shots at goal."
Despite the huge gap at the top of the table Strachan is refusing to throw in the towel on 10 In a Row, even if he knows there's a huge task ahead.
He said: "In normal circumstances it would be very difficult and it is going to be very difficult, but the way the world is just now there are strange things happening all over the place so we've just got to get our players back and get a run of form going, a run of wins, and just keep fighting.
"It (the gap) is an awful lot.
"We've just got to get the core of our squad back, get used to the feel of winning games again and go from there."
Strachan was also asked whether the events after the ill-fated Dubai trip have knocked confidence.
He agreed: "I think with events that have gone on maybe it has, we were in a really good moment leading up to the Rangers game and including the Rangers game, performance wise.
"Events have maybe hit the confidence of the squad a little bit."
