Three points tonight, Celtic … and maybe a wee favour from St Mirren!

There is something rather delicious about a Wednesday night in Scottish football when Celtic are trying to keep their perfect league start alive, while over at Ibrox our rivals are at home to St Mirren. And yes, I am going to say it.

Come on, St Mirren. Do Celtic a wee favour tonight. Imagine waking up tomorrow morning with Celtic sitting pretty and the Ibrox mob having dropped points at home. That would be absolutely smashing, wouldn’t it? Especially going into the weekend.

But before I start dreaming about somebody else doing us a favour, Celtic have a job to do themselves. And tonight, for me, the biggest question isn’t whether Celtic have enough quality to beat St Johnstone. Of course we do.

The question is whether Martin O’Neill gets the team selection right, particularly when it comes to those players who are returning from injury. Because there is a very fine line between giving a player valuable minutes and being downright bloody daft.

Kasper Høgh and Kieran Tierney have both returned to training, and there is a possibility that either could feature. Høgh appears to be further along in his recovery, while Tierney has only just returned to full training.

And this is where my English-teacher brain starts twitching.

Could. Not should. There is a difference.

If Høgh is genuinely ready for 20 or 30 minutes, then fine. If Tierney is ready for a controlled cameo, then fine. But if there is even the slightest doubt, leave them alone. I would rather have a fully fit Høgh and Tierney available for the weeks ahead than see either of them thrown into a match tonight because somebody has decided we desperately need them.

We don’t. That is the important bit. Celtic have options, and this is exactly what squad depth is supposed to be about.

Camilo Durán has done a magnificent job through the middle while Høgh has been unavailable. He has looked lively, aggressive and increasingly confident, and he deserves another opportunity. Then there is Shim Mheuka, who has already shown that he can cause problems when he comes onto the pitch.

We brought these players into Celtic for a reason, so use them.

I would personally start Durán through the middle again tonight. I would be very tempted to give Mheuka another opportunity as well, because there is something about that boy that makes me think there are goals waiting to come out of him.

And with Yang away with South Korea, Celtic need to shuffle the attacking pack anyway. That doesn’t mean panic. It means opportunity. I actually rather like the idea of some of these new players being forced to take responsibility. This is Celtic. There is always pressure. If you want to play here, you need to learn to deal with it.

But there is another part of tonight’s team selection that matters enormously to me.

The defence. Yes, I want Celtic to score. I want goals. I want attacking football. I want Celtic swarming all over St Johnstone. I want Hassan running at defenders, Nygren finding those little pockets of space, Durán getting into the box and Mheuka causing absolute chaos.

But I also want us to remember something incredibly simple.

We have to defend. That sounds ridiculously obvious, doesn’t it? And yet sometimes watching Celtic this season has made me wonder whether we have forgotten that football contains two teams.

The St Mirren game at the weekend was a perfect example. Celtic won 2-1, made it five wins from five and kept the perfect league start going, but we conceded first and St Mirren made us work very hard for the points.

Wonderful. Three points. Lovely. But I don’t want that becoming a habit, especially away from home and especially when we are about to enter a really important part of the season.

I want Celtic to attack tonight, but I want us to attack intelligently. There is a difference between being aggressive and being reckless.

I don’t want our full-backs charging forward simultaneously while somebody leaves the door open behind them. I don’t want us conceding some daft counter-attack after dominating 70 per cent of the ball. We can’t be caught by a single long ball. And I certainly don’t want to be sitting there at 9.30pm wondering why Celtic have once again made a straightforward football match feel like a personal test of my blood pressure.

Keep it tight at the back, then go and get the goals.

My English-teacher predictions have already become rather legendary in my own head (haha), so here comes tonight’s prediction.

St Johnstone 1-3 Celtic.

I can see Celtic scoring first. I can also see us making life unnecessarily complicated. I can see St Johnstone getting a goal and me immediately shouting at the television, and then I can see Celtic finding another gear and putting the game to bed.

That seems to be the Celtic way at the moment. Why make it easy when you can make your supporters suffer first? I would absolutely adore a comfortable 3-0. I would happily accept a boring 1-0. I don’t care.

Just win the bloody match.

But while Celtic are doing their business in Perth, there is another game that I will inevitably have one eye on. Ibrox Club v St Mirren.

Now, St Mirren have already shown us that they are perfectly capable of making Celtic uncomfortable. They pushed us hard at the weekend and made us work for those three points, so perhaps they can take that same attitude across Glasgow.

Perhaps they can frustrate the other lot. Perhaps they can nick a goal. Perhaps they can do something wonderfully irritating to the Ibrox mob.

Wouldn’t that be smashing? I am not asking for miracles. Just a wee favour. Celtic take care of Celtic business. St Mirren take care of theirs. And suddenly tomorrow morning could look rather beautiful and pile the pressure on them.

But tonight is primarily about Celtic. We have started this season with momentum. We have new players finding their feet. We have injured players beginning to return. We have a huge fixture at Ibrox looming on Sunday, and we have absolutely no reason to throw away what we have built by rushing somebody back too soon.

If Høgh is ready, give him minutes. If Tierney is ready, perhaps give him minutes. But if either player needs more time, give them more time.

I would rather be patient now and have them fully fit when we really need them than gamble tonight and regret it later. There is a long season ahead, and Celtic need to think beyond one game.

So tonight, I want hunger. I want intensity. I want goals. I want three points. I want another step forward. But above everything else, I want intelligence.

Attack when we can. Defend when we must. Don’t give St Johnstone cheap opportunities. Don’t give me a nervous breakdown.

And please, Martin, don’t be tempted to be clever with injured players just because we have another massive game around the corner. We have enough players. We have enough quality. Let’s trust them. Let’s win this one.

And then, once the final whistle goes, I’ll have one wee question left.

So, St Mirren… what did you do at Ibrox?

Now that would be a beautiful way to finish the night.

Come on Celtic. Give me six from six. And if the mob happens to drop a few points while we’re doing it? Well … I’ll take that too. I’ll be celebrating with a wee dram of the finest Scotch single malt!

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