Celtic travel to Paisley for their final Scottish Premiership outing in three-and-a-half weeks, when they face St Mirren at the SMISA Stadium on Tuesday.

Brendan Rodgers's side will be in jubilant spirits after another Old Firm victory in their final game of 2023 on Saturday, and will look to maintain a comfortable lead at the top here.

Match preview

Celtic knew heading into the derby with Rangers that anything but a win would leave their bitter rivals in the ascendancy due to their games in hand.

However, the Hoops continued a fine recent record against Rangers by sealing a 2-1 victory at Parkhead to move them eight points clear at the Premiership summit.

Two superb strikes in either half from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi sent Celtic on their way, even if they did suffer a late scare when James Tavernier's free kick pulled the 10 men back into it.

That was a third straight home derby win for Celtic, and victories either side of Christmas against Livingston and Dundee means it is also three wins on the bounce in the league for Rodgers's side.

Back-to-back defeats to Kilmarnock and Hearts had allowed Rangers to make up some ground, and move to within five points with two games in hand, but Celtic have now moved clear again.

Ahead of the winter break, the visitor's target will be to at least maintain that eight-point gap here, if not extend it, if they receive a helping hand from Kilmarnock, who go to Ibrox earlier in the day.

For hosts St Mirren, a wonderful start had them battling among the top two, but a drastic fall off now means they are battling just for a spot in the Championship section.

Defeats either side of Christmas to the same two teams that got the better of Celtic recently - Kilmarnock and Hearts - extended an unwelcoming run of just two wins in 11.

However, Stephen Robinson's side put together arguably their finest performance of the season to date over the weekend, by thrashing Aberdeen 3-0 at Pittodrie.

That means they currently sit seven points clear in the top six, but they have played three games more than Dundee who sit on the cusp, given the huge disruption caused by the weather to Scottish football during December.

Many sides below St Mirren are facing each other, so it is likely that teams will make up ground on them given the difficulty of this fixture, so their gap to the bottom six may not be quite as wide going into the winter break.

This fixture is tough for many sides, but particularly for St Mirren, as they have just one league win in 14 years against the Glasgow giants.

That came last season though, in a 2-0 success, but there have been five further meetings since then, four of which have ended in defeat and seen St Mirren concede 18 goals.

Team News

A groin injury will definitely keep Australian defender Ryan Strain out for this encounter, while St Mirren also have a couple of doubts ahead of the clash.

Alex Greive returned to the matchday squad but was an unused substitute in the Aberdeen win, suggesting he may not yet be ready for action, while Conor McMenamin was absent entirely.

Stav Nahmani and Jonah Ayunga both returned in attack though, making cameo appearances, with the former netting the second goal which virtually put the game beyond doubt on Saturday.

The winter break will come at a perfect time for Celtic, as many of their star players will be away at the Asian Cup from next week.

Kyogo, along with Japanese compatriots Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, are set to be called up, while Hyeongyu Oh and Hyun-jun Yang are in the South Korea squad.

Cameron Carter-Vickers missed the Rangers clash and Thiago Holm was ill over the weekend, while Tomoki Iwata is still recovering from injury.

There is a fresh injury concern for Rodgers to deal with too, as Stephen Welsh was forced off with injury inside the first half, so Maik Nawrocki could deputise.

Liel Abada made his first appearance since the first Old Firm game of the season in early September by coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute, and his return to fitness could be important if Japan and South Korea go far at the Asian Cup.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Bolton, Gogic, R Taylor; Fraser, Baccus, O'Hara, Tanser; Ayunga, Kiltie, Mandron

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Johnston, Nawrocki, Scales, G Taylor; O'Riley, McGregor, Paulo Bernardo; Maeda, Kyogo, Palma

We say: St Mirren 0-3 Celtic

Celtic have recorded some big wins in Paisley over the past few years, and St Mirren are often favourable opponents, and this fixture should prove no different.

Despite a positive return to form at the weekend, this is not the ideal fixture the hosts would have wanted to follow up with, and a difficult evening could be in store against the league leaders.


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