No goalmouth action yet at Easter Road.

What is evident though from both sides is managers Shaun Maloney and Stephen Glass have a similar philosophy with both teams trying to pass the ball about.

The ball has rarely left the turf yet.

St Mirren debutant Kieran Offord has a shooting chance in Celtic's box from a throw-in, only to take a fresh-air swipe.

Celtic break quickly and Mikey Johnston jinks past three players before forcing a great stop from Dean Lyness with a fierce 10-yard strike.

St Johnstone are starting brightly as they pepper the Ross County box with a succession of crosses in the early stages.

No clear-cut chances yet for either side but Stevie May narrowly missed one of the Saints' balls into the box.

That pre-match news has almost overshadowed the kick-off of tonight's action.

Don't let anything detract you from how big these games are...

Tom Rogic is seeing a lot of the ball early on for Celtic as they try to impose themselves on a Covid-hit St Mirren side.

We're off and running across the country.

Send on the goals, please!

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou confirms he has 11 players out injured tonight.

"We’ve got significant injuries," he says. "11 guys out with injury and Carl Starfelt is suspended.

“The good thing is the guys coming in have all played football recently."

Image source, SNS

On the Covid situation surrounding their fixture tonight for St Mirren, he added: “It’s a difficult situation, Dundee United went through it at the weekend, the game is to be played so we’re here.

“The nature of this club is that you’ve got to move on pretty quickly and the players took it all in and enjoyed the moment on Sunday but they understand there’s a new challenge tonight.

“The fans are an integral part of the game so the more that fans, the teams and the players all stay united in this - and we can provide the right sort of environment for that to take place - makes common sense."

New Hibernian manager Shaun Maloney tells BBC Scotland: "Systems don't really matter, it's all about the players. I hope we give the people who are coming tonight a performance to be proud of.

"There'll be mistakes, there'll be errors, but hopefully there will be something to be proud of."

Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass tells BBC Scotland: "I think we'd all prefer fans to be in the ground when the games are played.

"I think you're going to see an appetite from a group of fans, from ours and from Hibs.

"There'll be a bigger crowd here than there would have been if they knew there were games coming up, so I think that shows you everything you need to know."

The big one that stands out there is a midweek Old Firm derby in February...

Monday 17 January

Celtic v Hibernian

Tuesday 18 January

Aberdeen v Rangers

Dundee United v St Mirren

Heart of Midlothian v St Johnstone

Livingston v Dundee

Ross County v Motherwell

Tuesday 1 February

Dundee v Dundee United

Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian

Livingston v St Johnstone

Ross County v Aberdeen

St Mirren v Motherwell

Wednesday 2 February

Celtic v Rangers

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Sportsound that circumstances surrounding tonight's game are "quite extreme" amid a Covid outbreak at the club.

"It's been extremely difficult," he says. "We've been here before, it's very similar to what happened last season.

"No one here wants to cancel games willy-nilly but the circumstances here are quite extreme. We have 11 positive cases so it's very difficult.

"The powers-that-be wanted the game to go ahead by hook or crook, so much so that they have bent the loan rules in allowing us to bring six under-18 players back from loans to bulk up the squad.

Image source, SNS

On if he was surprised tonight's game wasn't postponed after the club's requests he added: "I'm not surprised, because last year we were forced to play games we didn't want to.

"We wanted the game off because we have so many positive cases and we didn't want to make the game a farce. We're asking fans to come and pay £27 a few days before Christmas and they want to see a decent game.

"Thankfully today we were able to free up a few of our players who were deemed close contacts yesterday due to some of the [test] results we've had this afternoon. Three or four hours ago we genuinely felt we were going to have to play six or seven under-17 players

"It's been extremely stressful but we're here now and we just have to get on with it."

Willie Miller
Former Scotland defender on BBC Sportsound

Michael Stewart
Former Hearts midfielder on BBC Sportsound

Well, what do you make of that decision?

Have the SPFL made the right call?

Let us know using the thumbs...

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland

I've had it confirmed, the games on Boxing Day will go ahead as planned.

After that, the winter break for Premiership clubs will begin. The games that have postponed will be played on the week beginning 17 January and the second set the week beginning 31 January.

That tweet from Motherwell would suggest that Premiership clubs will play their Boxing Day games, but the remaining festive fixtures will be postponed.

Following his appointment earlier this week, Shaun Maloney will make his managerial debut as new Hibernian boss at Easter Road this evening.

The ex-Celtic and Scotland forward, who left his role as Belgium assistant coach to take the job, will be tasked with reenergising his new side after their League Cup final defeat to Celtic on Sunday.

Image source, SNS

A debut win for Maloney will see Hibs move up to fifth, leapfrogging tonight's visitors Aberdeen and Dundee United.

The Dons haven't played since a 1-0 win at St Johnstone on 11 December and a fourth straight league victory will see them move within a point of fourth-placed Motherwell.