Celtic are in a useful position as they approach their remaining five Scottish Premiership matches courtesy of recent developments.
Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Adam Idah ensured three points for the Bhoys against St Mirren last Saturday in a comprehensive 3-0 win, piling pressure on Rangers ahead of their trip to face Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium.
As we all know, Don Cowie masterminded a commendable victory over Philippe Clement’s men, which meant the Bhoys kept their four-point lead intact at the summit.
On Wednesday, our rivals have the chance to reduce the margin to a solitary point if they can overcome Dundee; however, Brendan Rodgers’ men will still remain in the driving seat in the title race.
Nothing is won or lost at this point, meaning there are five post-split fixtures on the horizon that the Irishman needs to navigate successfully to bring a third consecutive league trophy back to Parkhead.
This weekend, the Hoops are in Scottish Cup semi-final action against Aberdeen. Caretaker manager Peter Leven will lead out the Dons amid Jimmy Thelin’s impending summer appointment in the North East.
Despite taking a break from league duty, the expectation to win for Celtic remains the same, given the prize at stake is a showpiece final against one of Heart of Midlothian or Rangers on May 25th.
Rodgers coined the term ‘this is when Celtic comes alive’ in relation to the season run-in. It is time to see it on the pitch as the Hoops bid to claim two pieces of silverware.
Alistair Johnston discusses how Celtic will approach the run-in
Canadian defender Alistair Johnston enjoyed a fine afternoon in our comfortable victory over St Mirren, where he created three chances, claimed an assist, completed six recoveries, and earned a match rating of 8.8/10 [Fotmob].
The 25-year-old has already enjoyed the euphoria of winning a treble at Celtic; nevertheless, he is hungry to get his hands on further success at Parkhead, and he lifted the lid on the internal mindset within the club heading into the business end of the campaign.
Johnston explained as this season’s conclusion draws closer [Celtic FC]: “We’re almost there, the finish line is close, and we know that every single point matters. So we are excited by that, excited by that challenge, I think our crowd is as well.
“So it’s going to be a big six weeks or so here, but again, we really look at this as an amazing opportunity for us.
“To come out here, and if we play our football in every match, doing what we need to do, we can come out and make this a special season. That’s the aim.”
Celtic will be keen to smash through the finish line
Regardless of events elsewhere, Celtic need to be aiming for maximum points in their remaining league matches this campaign, which won’t be easy to achieve amid the fact we face the likes of Kilmarnock and Heart of Midlothian post-split, two sides who have taken points against the Hoops this term.
There is also the small matter of a Glasgow Derby against Rangers, where our rivals may come out on the offensive because they have to win to keep their title-winning hopes alive.
St Mirren and Dundee have also been competitive forces in the Scottish Premiership; regardless, Celtic are in the driving seat, and Rodgers will have confidence in his group to deliver success.