In the defence of their title Celtic have already managed to clear all the highest hurdles, clipping only the last of them. A quirk of the Premiership scheduling sent them to all the hardest venues in the campaign’s first ten games: to Ibrox, to Pittodrie, to Tynecastle and to Easter Road. Throw in a trip to the always awkward Livingston, with the division’s poorest surface, and Celtic have had it pretty hard.
Rangers have still to go to Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs, and of course to Celtic too, with the season’s second Old Firm game coming at Parkhead on December 30. For all the enormous advantages they hold it still has been reassuring for Celtic that with a new manager bedding in and significant injuries to contend with they have travelled to the clubs which finished second, third, fourth and fifth last season — to the places where they always should be tested — and emerged unbeaten and relatively unscathed.
There is the satisfaction of anticipating a gentler run until the turn of the year, with seven of the 11 league games at home before the end of December. “It has been a tough run,” the defender Greg Taylor said. “You need to play everyone anyway, home and away, but it has definitely been a difficult start. We have been to Pittodrie, Ibrox, Tynecastle, Easter Road now, Livingston. That’s ten games in the league and eight wins and two draws.”
That Celtic lacked energy in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Hibs was understandable. Afterwards Callum McGregor talked about the “massive” numbers they had delivered against Atletico Madrid three nights earlier and he should know, given that the 36.1 kilometres he has run over three Champions League games has been exceeded by only ten players in the competition so far. The display was flat against Hibs until Brendan Rodgers introduced five substitutes who played no part against Atletico, other than James Forrest’s final ten minutes off the bench. The changes lifted Celtic and they sped up and applied sustained late pressure against Hibs, coming closest to scoring when Forrest smashed the bar.
For any Premiership team it is obviously beneficial to face them immediately after these physically and mentally draining nights in Europe. The Hibs manager, Nick Montgomery, had acknowledged as much when speaking to his own players. “Obviously he mentioned it to us, how they might be after such a big game,” said the goalkeeper David Marshall, himself a former Celtic player. “I’ve been there and know how difficult it is. A Champions League night is emotional and it takes a lot out of you. Playing Atletico Madrid was a real tough game for them so we knew there might be some effect.
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“But you’ve still got to go out there and perform to make it a factor, and we did. I know people questioned our [4-4-2] formation but, I mean, Celtic defend in a 4-4-2, really. I think when it comes to attacking and defending it’s kind of different, it changes from game to game. It’s definitely hard work for Joe Newell and Jimmy Jeggo in the centre of midfield, especially against a Celtic team who have a lot of possession. But we can do it. We’ve got the pace and athleticism in the team. And results like this will give us that belief.” Another positive result at home to Ross County on Tuesday night would give them a lift before Saturday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final against Aberdeen.
Rodgers and his players are notably reluctant to play up European exertions as a factor which might contribute to weekend sluggishness. That can become self-fulfilling and it is an unhelpful mindset to adopt. “It’s difficult when you have the emotion of the night, a big game, a lot of energy put into it,” Taylor said. “But that is the pressure of this club, you have to do it every week. You are tired, of course you are, but very rarely do you go into a game feeling 100 per cent. We know we have more than enough quality and strength in that squad that we should have gone to Easter Road and got the three points. But equally you don’t have any right. That was a good Hibs team, I thought they played some good football.”
The first of their run of home games comes on Wednesday against St Mirren. Rodgers will not make wholesale changes but he is likely to freshen the side. Having appeared for the first time in 19 months, much of which was spent on loan to Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, Mikey Johnston will hope to build on his 25 minutes as a substitute in Edinburgh by starting a Celtic game for the first time since February 2022.
“He’s got bags of ability, Mikey,” Taylor said. “One v one in training he’s right up there with the best. You see his performances for Ireland, they’ve been very strong as well. So Mikey’s got ability. It’s just about delivering on a consistent level. If he does that in training then he’ll get the opportunity in games. There is a top player there.”
