First Team
Match preview: Celtic v Saints
24th January 2017
Tuesday 24th January
St. Johnstone return to league action tomorrow evening when we face Celtic at Parkhead. Saints go into the game on the back of Saturday's victory over Stenhousenuir, with goals from Steven MacLean and Blair Alston securing a comfortable victory. Both Micheal Coulson and Ally Gilchrist missed Saturday's match and remain sidelined for this fixture. Murray Davidson is back but Richard Foster is out of the match through suspension. Wednesday night's encounter is Saints' first Premiership fixture of the year.
The hosts are unbeaten in domestic football this season. Celtic won the Betfred League Cup in November and ensured their place in the Fourth Round of the Scottish Cup yesterday with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Albion Rovers.
Saints, however, have one of the better records against league leaders Celtic in recent times. Last May, a Graham Cummins header secured a 2-1 victory over Celtic at McDiarmid Park and it was just short of two years ago when a Danny Swanson stunner was the only goal in a 1-0 victory for Saints at Parkhead.
Manager Tommy Wright believes a result against the unbeaten side is possible on Wednesday.
"We'll need that extra bit of quality to get a result, but we have a decent record against the big clubs," he said. "We know they're likely to have more of the ball so we will have to limit them to as few chances as possible and make it difficult for them.
"If we do the basics well and play to our best we have the belief we can go there and get a result."
Match preview by Joshua Barrie.