Away we go at Celtic Park.

Kick-off elsewhere should hopefully follow soon.

Three o'clock and not one game has kicked off. A pet hate of mine.

Anyway...

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Scotland: "We need to set up the team completely differently. The game plan was to frustrate Celtic and be compact. The players did that brilliantly.

"This afternoon we need to impose ourselves on St Johnstone and do more on the ball. They're a really difficult opponent despite being towards the bottom of the league, they play some really good football.

"The only criticism I had of last weekend was when we did have opportunities to get balls into the box we didn't take them. We need to get the ball out to [Ryan] Strain and [Will] Ferry and supply crosses for Sam Dalby."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland at McDiarmid Park

It's proving to be a very promising season for Dundee United. The goalless draw against Celtic was hard-earned but is a continuation of more solid work.

They'll seek to be more attacking against a side struggling to pick up points and that opportunity may take them to fourth if they capitalise.

Simo Valakari cuts a confident chap but knows it's vital, especially at home, to start getting a consistent return.

Following Hibs' derby win at Hearts, this is how the table looks going into the three o'clock matches...

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland at Rugby Park

Football + turkey sandwiches = Boxing Day done right.

Intriguing one here at Rugby Park. Killie are in decent form, always strong at home, defensively sound (the Rangers defeat apart) but goals are not proving easy to come by.

They haven’t scored more than one goal in their last seven matches.

Jimmy Thelin does not seem to be panicked in the slightest by Aberdeen’s six-match winless run, and third place in the Premiership at Christmas is a situation all Dons fans would’ve taken at the start of the season.

That being said, a win here to stop that sequence of results would be most welcome by the travelling fans.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "Fortunately for me the last three games [at Celtic Park] have been good results.

"Anything I've ever been able to get off Celtic as a player/manager comes down to organisation and discipline, but you also need a bit of quality.

"I do think Celtic are relentless, they have such high standards, particularly on this pitch. Our distances are gong to have to be spot on to take anything from the game.

The Motherwell boss also spoke about Dan Casey's overturned red card, adding: "I've spoken enough about it, but with the nature of the appeal I think everybody understands it was the wrong decision.

"We've had four big decisions go against us in recent games and you sincerely hope that starts to turn.

"We have to focus on playing a game of football, not centring that around officials or VAR."

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Celtic Park

In his last three visits to Celtic Park as a manager, Stuart Kettlewell has managed a win and two draws.

The victory was with Ross County in the League Cup back in November 2020; while as Motherwell boss, Kettlewell has steered his side to two 1-1 draws.

Most managers would take those stats.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin tells BBC Scotland: "It is going to be a tight game. It is going to competitive. We have to be focused on what we have to do. We have to be consistent for 90 minutes today.

"It is always the last game and the next game that are the most important. This game today is the most important. Wherever we are in the table, we have to show a good performance and be better in the future.

"[Dimitar Mitov] is doing fine and Ross [Doohan] also did fine. Dimitar has been good all season and is a leader on the pitch, so it is good timing. He is ready to play and is in good shape."

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Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

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Aberdeen started December as Celtic's closest challengers. Six games without a win later and they are third, trailing Rangers by a point and having played a game more.

Things were looking up for the Dons on Saturday when Topi Keskinen scored a deflected opener against Hibs, who roared back with three goals to claim all three points.

The Finnish winger, 21, has scored five goals since his summer arrival from HJK, also providing a couple of Premiership assists.

Kilmarnock play host to Aberdeen today, having lost 2-0 at Pittodrie back in August.

Former Dons manager Derek McInnes' side may have designs on the top six, but Jimmy Thelin's men are in need of inspiration to get their season back on track and Keskinen is just the type of player who can stretch teams.

Dundee boss Tony Docherty tells BBC Scotland: "We've won our last three home games and credit to the players, the club hadn't done that since 2002. The pitch is in fantastic condition, there'll be a good crowd.

"Hopefully we generate a real tempo and speed to our play. We enjoy playing at home, I want the crowd to play their part and they've always done it since I've been here.

"We've scored 11 goals in our last three home games and hopefully we can replicate that. I don't look up, I don't look down, I look at every game on it's individual merit."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland at Dens Park

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As supporters of both Dundee and Ross County continue to digest their turkey, they will be travelling to Dens Park this afternoon looking for a belated Christmas present.

The plight of Dundee is not as critical as their opponents, but after back-to-back defeats - at Hearts and Rangers - Tony Docherty will be hoping his side can get back to winning ways.

The Dark Blues are well placed in seventh in division, but the teams below them are starting to bunch up, so it goes without saying how important a victory is in terms of their top-six aspirations.

As far County, they have dropped to second bottom after four defeats in a row and just one win in their last eight matches.

Manager Don Cowie needs to find a way of improving the numbers in their wins column - a process he could do with beginning at Dens Park today.

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari tells BBC Scotland: "We need results. We need to find a way to get them as quickly as possible. How close we are? It's hard to predict.

"But the players are putting in effort and playing good stuff for spells. We need to find more complete performances though.

"We need to defend better in key moments and attack better as well. That will bring us the results we're looking for."

Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

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One of the Premiership's newest managers, Simo Valakari, is facing a big challenge at St Johnstone.

With just one point from a possible 12 so far in December, the Perth side are a point adrift in 12th place.

However, Saints supporters will know their three defeats so far this month have been by a margin of one goal, while the point they picked up away to Aberdeen came only after the Dons had battled back from a goal down.

Fifth-placed Dundee United, who held Celtic to a draw on Sunday, are their Boxing Day visitors, aiming for their second straight win over Saints.

With three wins and a draw out of 11 so far, Valakari has not enjoyed the strongest of starts at McDiarmid Park.

But it's tight in the Scottish top flight and a win can go a long way, so the Saints boss will hope that's the case this afternoon.

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Celtic are unbeaten in 32 meetings with Motherwell in all competitions, since a 2-1 home defeat in December 2015, but Stuart Kettlewell's men have drawn 1-1 in their past two trips to Parkhead.

A rare, rare win for the Fir Park side at Celtic Park would end the league leaders' 24-game unbeaten streak at home.

That's Celtic's longest such run since going 33 without a loss from December 2005 to March 2007 under Gordon Strachan.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers tells BBC Scotland: "If I look back to this time last year, the performance level wasn't so good. But over the course of the year the players have been very good.

"We've been playing well in the main and seeing progress in Europe, which is what we want.

"You always want to improve the squad and for me we did a lot of great work in the summer. Hopefully January will give us the opportunity to improve the squad further."

On the changes to the squad today, Rodgers adds: "We're trying to bring as much freshness, especially in the middle to front end of the pitch.

"I think we missed that sharpness against Dundee United and we hope we can take it up a level today and get the early goal that can open up the opponent."

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Callum McGregor says Celtic's high standards meant dropping points at Dundee United felt "like the end of the world".

But the captain has urged his team to swiftly return to winning ways against Motherwell today.

"We understand what the problem was and we dust ourselves down and move on from it," McGregor said.

"The success we've had over a long period of time now means every dropped point feels like a defeat, it feels like the end of the world.

"It's good for the players to see that and understand how it feels, because we're a team that's used to winning all the time.

"Sometimes it's okay to be disappointed and feel hurt and try to use that momentum in the coming games."

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Ross County manager Don Cowie tells BBC Scotland: "I believe Jordan [Amissah] deserves his opportunity. He came over three weeks ago. Jack [Hamilton] has had a difficult time in goals, so Jordan gets the nod.

"The other three changes - we've got a really hectic schedule over the next few weeks and it's about using the squad.

"You can say it's tight, but you want to win games of football. Today is an opportunity to do that.

"Dundee have been very strong at home - so I understand the challenge, but we have to be brave and cause them problems.

"Actions speak louder than words and it's about being the player that makes the difference."

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St Johnstone make three changes from their loss at Tynecastle.

Kyle Cameron is back available and starts in a back three, while David Keltjens plays on the left flank and Graham Carey slots into midfield.

Aaron Essel, Andre Raymond and Adama Sidibeh drop to the bench.

Jim Goodwin makes two alterations after United's goalless draw with Celtic.

Miller Thomson and Luca Stephenson drop to the bench and Emmanuel Adegboyega and Richard Odada start, the latter for the first time in Tangerine.

Bobby Wales starts alongside Kilmarnock captain Kyle Vassell up top, with Marley Watkins sidelined by an injury sustained at Fir Park last Friday.

There is a change in the Killie goal as Robby McCrorie returns in place of Kieran O'Hara, while the third switch sees winger Daniel Armstrong come in for attacker Bruce Anderson.

Dimitar Mitov returns in goal after recovering from a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the last three matches. Ross Doohan drops to the bench in the first of four Aberdeen alterations.

Angus MacDonald, Duk and Peter Ambrose also come in to the XI, replacing Gavin Molloy, Leighton Clarkson and Ester Sokler.

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