Considering we have won just one of our last eight league games a match against the league leaders who are in terrific form is probably the worst thing we could have had. The only positive thing is it's at home, which hopefully means we'll avoid a repeat of November's 5-0 horror show at Parkhead. Having said that we often seem to get our best results against Celtic when they're going well and we're doing badly - the four points and cup win we've managed over them since promotion have all come on the back of shockers the previous Saturday. And last week we lost 5-2...
One of those wins over Celtic was the famous 4-0 just after we blew the League Cup final. That was nearly two years ago and we haven't managed even a goal against them since - although if you offered fans of any club a 4-0 win over the Old Firm in exchange for not scoring against them in the next five games they'd probably grab it! We've done remarkably well against Rangers this season but against Celtic haven't been great and it'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.
Of course, the last time the league leaders came to Paisley we beat them to record a magical 2-1 victory on Christmas Eve. Could it happen again? There's absolutely no pressure on us to get a result and, as I've said before, anything we take from these games is a bonus. It's basically a free hit as you go in with hope, rather than expectation. As long as we avoid another gubbing. And don't get anyone injured. Or sent off.
The pass, pass and wait for space approach clearly doesn't work against teams like Hamilton, however this is the sort of game that approach might just work in. Celtic will come out looking for the ball if we have it, gaps will open up and we have to be able to exploit them. However, we also have to ensure we don't shoot ourselves in the foot in the process by playing suicidal passes or dallying too long. We have to be up from it from the off, get in their faces and play our way.
Danny Lennon has gone with the same players for the last two games so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him do the same again, although surely Steven Thompson needs an out and out striker to play alongside him rather than Gary Teale or Paul McGowan. It's perhaps time for Nigel Hasselbaink to come back into the side, especially as his pace could cause the Celtic defence all sorts of problems. Jim Goodwin will still be missing through injury so I'd expect David Barron to continue in midfield.
One other option arrived today in the shape of Dougie Imrie. It would be nice to see him run at a suspect defence but it's likely he'll be sitting on the bench tomorrow. While his future is sorted, Goodwin and Kenny McLean are being linked with moves away. They - McLean in particular - must forget about that for now and go about things in their normal way rather than try to avoid doing anything that will halt their rumoured moves.
Neil Lennon was arguably 45 minutes from the sack earlier this season. Celtic were 3-0 down at half-time Kilmarnock and it was looking as if it would be a reign-ending defeat similar to Tony Mowbray's 4-0 disaster at Greenhill Road. However, Lennon obviously read his players the riot act as they managed a 3-3 draw and haven't looked back since. They come to Paisley on the back of 11 straight league wins, a run that has taken them from title outsiders to the top of the pack. Now the onus is on them to stay there and end Rangers' run of three straight titles and on current form you wouldn't bet against them.
Most teams we come up against usually have one in-form striker - sadly Celtic have two. Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes have both been in lethal form in recent weeks to the extent that Hooper has been attracting interest from down south. Admittedly it's only a Championship club but if he keeps adding to his current tally of 16 it won't be long before the Premiership is calling. Fortunately for Celtic he's repeatedly expressed his desire to stay put. Even Georgios Samaras has picked up in the last few weeks - helped by his soft early goal against us at Parkhead - and isn't just saving himself for the Old Firm games.
It's probably just as well Celtic are so good up front as they are still a bit dodgy at the back - a problem they had in the Mowbray days. Daniel Majstorovic looks like he'll batter anything that comes his way but Gareth Wardlaw arguably had the better of him last season, with Thomas Rogne and Glenn Loovens also struggling a bit at times. That's probably why Lennon added Mikael Lustig earlier this month - which should mean the end of Charlie Mulgrew in the centre of defence. His set-piece delivery is good but he's not a centre-half and the calls for him to be in the Scotland squad are laughable.
His days at leftback may be numbered now that Emilio Izaguirre is back. He was a flying machine before his injury problems and is one of the best players in the SPL when fit. He is one of Lennon's better signings with summer recruit Victor Wanyama and fellow midfielder Ki Sung-Yeung close behind. Wanyama has been doing particularly well of late, even scoring a few goals. Joe Ledley has also chipped in with a few and with Scott Brown back from injury the Hoops have a formidable midfield - especially when you consider the wild card option of Paddy McCourt on the bench and young James Forrest, who has been terrific in recent weeks.