Three Points Today And Celtic’s Rivals Are Running Out Of Straws To Clutch.

Three points today are massive. If we get them we go into the split six clear with a goal difference column that you would think is as good as another point. That probably leaves us two wins from the last five shy of being champions.

It is close enough to touch.

I watched McCoist trade barbs with Sutton this morning on BT Sport’s Scottish Football show, and I enjoyed how the big ex-Celtic striker baited the ex-Ibrox manager on his lack of belief that his team can still win the title.

I understood the points of view of both men.

Both said that a team in a title race has to be in it until the end … but in spite of Sutton’s baiting (and it was obvious) neither of them believes that it can be turned around.

Others elsewhere do appear to believe that the title can still find its way, somehow, to Ibrox. Our form looks just way too good for that to happen now, and a win today would close another door.

There are, after all, only six games left.

I’ve enjoyed counting this down since we moved into the lead in February. I’ve enjoyed even more counting the days down since we extended the lead last month and this one. But all that was about theatrics and turning up the pressure dial.

What we’re doing right now is counting down to the day we can clinch it.

That’s a different sort of box checking; it’s like waiting for Xmas to come, but not quite sure on which date it falls this year. I am heading off on holiday next month, so it really needs to happen before the last two league games are played or I’m going to celebrate it abroad … but for me I can’t see past the second week of the split. I think that will be the title party.

We’re just a little too good right now for it to be anywhere else.

We’re just a little too far ahead of the opposition.

Our form has been exceptional, and in particular when you consider the way the fixture list has gone and given us the hardest possible season so far. That we have come through that so brilliantly is a testament to how good we are.

At the start of the season, any one of us would probably have wept disbelieving tears of joy at being told we’d be counting down towards a title at this point.

If you’d been told we would have the League Cup already in the bag you’d have thought it was mad. You’d have been waiting for the other shoe to drop … but we’re also a game away from a potential treble.

That’s not today’s business. That one belongs to next weekend.

For now, the focus is on the steady march towards winning this league.

A comfortable home win today and we can start circling dates on the calendar. The first match after the split will almost certainly be the one against the club from Ibrox; the SPFL won’t want a potential decider and that’s the only date on which that scenario can be decisively ruled out. So get ready for it.

The important thing today is just those three points, but if we could do it in a bit of style and with a bit of room to spare, we can really start planning the party.