St Mirren

Kheredine Idessane, BBC Scotland at Celtic Park

A tale of two halves for St Mirren - pretty much like their hosts, Celtic.

They were sharp, disciplined and organised in the first half and easily repelled everything Celtic threw at them. They were dangerous on the break, too.

St Mirren had no answer, however, to Celtic upping the tempo considerably after the break and, as soon as Reo Hatate blasted in the first within eight minutes of the re-start, the Buddies' resolve dissolved.

Celtic were comfortable from there on in, but the Paisley side will look ahead with relish to the post-split fixtures and the very real possibility of European football next season.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has stuck with Tomoki Iwata in central midfield despite captain Callum McGregor's return from injury as a substitute in Sunday's 3-3 draw with title rivals Rangers.

But injury has forced two changes, with Maik Nawrocki replacing Liam Scales in central defence, Yang Hyun-jun on the wing instead of Daizen Maeda.

St Mirren also make two changes, with fit-again captain Mark O'Hara and Keanu Baccus in central midfield.

On-loan Kwon Hyeok-kyu is unable to face his parent club and stop scorer Mikael Mandron drops to the bench as manager Stephen Robinson looks likely to play a more defensive formation.

Image source, BBC Sport

Celtic: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Nawrocki, Taylor, Tomoki, O'Riley, Hatate, Kuhn, Yang, Kyogo.

Substitutes: Bain, Lagerbielke, Palma, Idah, Bernardo, McGregor, Forrest, Welsh, Ralston.

St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Bwomono, Baccus, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser, Kiltie, Olusanya.

Substitutes: Urminsky, Bolton, Dunne, Strain, Brown, McMenamin, Jamieson, Scott, Mandron.

Image source, BBC Sport

Daizen Maeda (hamstring) drops out for Celtic and Liam Scales is unlikely to recover from an abductor strain in time to play.

St Mirren are without Jonah Ayunga, who has a minor knee complaint, but James Bolton and Ryan Strain are fully fit again.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Stephen Robinson admits he's likely to lose "five or six potential starters" from his St Mirren squad in the summer.

Ryan Strain, Alex Gogic and Keanu Baccus are among the players whose deals expire in the summer, which could lead to a re-build in Paisley - even if they qualify for European football.

"I knew what my budget was going to be," Robinson said.

“We are a club that can’t go above what we have. It doesn’t really matter where we finish. We might get one extra player if we finish in Europe.

“We know what we have got to work with. It’s the same at smaller clubs every year, you will lose five or six players in a good year, in a bad year you will lose 10,

“We will lose five or six potential starters, which is very difficult to replace. You have to replace them with the same resources but these players have grown over the last two-and-a-half years into players who can get moves to [English] Championship clubs or bigger SPFL clubs, so you are starting again with five or six coming in.”

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Stephen Robinson has been speaking to the media ahead of his side's trip to Celtic Park on Saturday.

Here are the key points:

• His side won't "rest on our laurels" as he looks to improve top-six record and potentially catch Kilmarnock to seal European football.

• Believes his players and staff have not been given enough credit for the season they've had. This could be down to the lack of "marquee result" which he hopes they can claim at the league leaders this weekend.

• Insists there is "absolutely no pressure" on his team and they can approach the rest of the campaign with "no fear" after securing a top-six finish.

• Admits he's likely to lose "five or six potential starters" in the summer to English Championship clubs or "bigger SPFL sides". Keanu Baccus, Alex Gogic and Ryan Strain are among the players who have deals expiring at the end of the season.

• But Robinson says European qualification could mean the addition of an extra player as he anticipates a mini re-build.

Image source, Getty Images

Why should Scottish football fans care about Czech side Viktoria Plzen drawing with Italian heavyweights Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League?

The result on Thursday night has serious consequences for the Premiership, with the Czech Republic now having leapfrogged Scotland in the coefficient standings.

Not only will the winners of the top flight no longer gain automatic qualification to the Champions League from 2025/26, but there's also a knock on effect for those finishing further down the table.

Here's everything you need to know.

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• Celtic have won six of their last seven meetings with St Mirren across all competitions (D1), scoring 23 goals and conceding just five times in that period.

• St Mirren have won just one of their last 34 away games against Celtic in all competitions (D3 L30). Stephen Robinson's side have failed to score in 24 of those last 34 trips to Celtic Park.

• Celtic's 2-0 defeat to Hearts in December this season is their only defeat in their last 59 Scottish Premiership home games (W49 D9).

• After winning two of their first three away league outings this season (D1), St Mirren have since won just two of their last 13 on the road (D3 L8).

• Despite playing just nine league games for the club so far, Adam Idah’s goals have been worth more points to Celtic than any other player this season (six). Five of his six league goals for Brendan Rodger's side have either given them a lead (four) or have equalised (1).

St Mirren travel to Celtic Park on Saturday for their final game before the split.

Who would you like to see start for Stephen Robinson's side?

Put yourself in the manager's shoes and pick your St Mirren XI here.

For a second consecutive campaign, the Buddies have delivered top-six status against the odds and outside expectation. Though Saturday ended in defeat to third-place Hearts, an electric start to the campaign and racking up of early points was enough to guarantee ending the season at the top table with a match to spare.

Reducing football to a comparison of balance sheets and turnover can strip the soul out of things, but context is important. In producing back-to-back top-half finishes, the fan-owned Saints are overperforming to a degree where it has become the expected standard.

Saturday's home match against Hearts, a side coasting in third place, was a close fought loss in front of a sold out and bouncing SMISA Stadium. In terms of bums on seats, second only to last season's equivalent fixture pre-split with Kilmarnock.

The Northbank fans group made their pre-game appeal for scarves and noise from the rest of the support, and were met with exactly that to accompany their two-stand display.

Since opening the "new" stadium in 2009, there have now been 15 attendances of over seven thousand inside the eight thousand capacity venue. Of those, 11have come since the appointment of Stephen Robinson.

Fans are coming out in their thousands, the squad are confounding their budget and expectations, and there is a feeling in Paisley that there could well be more to hope for between now and the end of the season. It would take a brave person to bet against it.

Mark Jardine can be found on the Misery Hunters podcast, external.

Toyosi Olusanya has been picked in Sportscene presenter Jonathan Sutherland's Team of the Week, despite St Mirren's 2-1 defeat to Hearts.

The striker may have been on the losing side but his run and finish from the half-way line was so good he simply had to be included.

On today's episode of the Scottish Football Podcast, Liam McLeod is joined by Kenny Miller and Alan Stubbs.

They discuss Sunday's Old Firm thriller and look back on an action-packed Saturday in the Scottish Premiership.

Listen to the episode in full here.

The Sportscene team discuss whether St Mirren should have had a last-gasp spot-kick in their defeat to Hearts.

(Available to UK users only)

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• Hearts have scored in each of their last five games in the Scottish Premiership, scoring seven goals in that run.

• St Mirren have scored in each of their last six games in the Scottish Premiership, scoring nine goals in that run.

• Alex Cochrane attempted six tackles in this game, more than any other player on either team.

• St Mirren have a record of W1, D5, L11 when conceding the opening goal in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Hearts have stopped the opposition from scoring a first-half goal in 23 of their 32 games, only Celtic (25) have done this more often in the Scottish Premiership this season.

Image source, SNS

Toyosi Olusanya was a livewire for St Mirren despite the blustery conditions, scoring a stunning goal with his deep run and forcing another key stop from Zander Clark.

Did you take in the action in Paisley this afternoon or were you following along from elsewhere?

We want your views on this afternoon's match.

Get in touch here.

St Mirren manager Steven Robinson: "With the resources we have at this club, when there's teams below us with riches beyond our dreams, it's a credit to this group of players, the staff and the board who have tried to build a football club as we go.

"It's the first time in 39 years that we've gone in the top six twice so the expectation levels have risen. I'm especially delighted for the staff who've worked tirelessly and drag every last drop out of the group of players. It's been a team effort from the boardroom all the way down.

"It was horrible conditions, balls flying out of play, players struggling to control it, it wasn't pretty on the eye, so I don't want to take away the achievement from this group of boys."

Image source, SNS

The celebrations in Paisley were slightly muted, but the main aim for the season has been achieved - back-to-back top-six finishes. It's well-deserved too, as they've hardly been out of the upper half all season.

They might feel hard done to by the first-half penalty decision after a similar incident in the second-half was not overturned in their favour. But St Mirren were much better in the second half.

As for Hearts, no Lawrence Shankland, no problem. While he was in his sick-bed, the third best team in the country proved their credentials once again.

Solid at the back and enterprising up front, Hearts always looked in control.

The next big one for them is the Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers in fortnight. They'll want their talisman Shankland fit and healthy for that one.