Celtic may have already wrapped up the Scottish Premier League title this season but plenty of Bhoys players will be looking to earn a place in Neil Lennon’s plans for the future, when they host St Johnstone on Thursday (Celtic 1/3, draw 4/1, St Johnstone 8/1).
Nothing will give a Celtic squad more pleasure or more confidence than a win over their Old Firm rivals Rangers – and the fact it was a 3-0 victory on home soil in their last outing – will guarantee a buoyant mood in the Hoops camp.
It’s been a long time since Celtic enjoyed a decent run in the Champions League and Lennon’s main focus now will be on strengthening his squad to challenge for the group stages of the top European competition.
That means the current crop of players will have to prove themselves before the end of the current campaign and expect the Scottish champions to be on their metal when they host St Johnstone, despite the title already being in the bag.
Striker Gary Hooper (5/2 first goalscorer) is just one goal away from 20 in the SPL this term and he will be determined to reach the landmark in what has been a fine season for the Englishman, who has been linked with a move south of the border to the Premier League.
However, it looks like the forward, who is still just 24-years-old, wants to stay with the Bhoys to make his mark in the Champions League next season.
St Johnstone will be fully aware of the threat posed by the former Scunthorpe United man but based on their last outing, they might not have the ability to stop him.
Despite sitting in fifth place in the table, Saints have gone four games in the SPL without a win and were thumped 5-1 by a rampant Motherwell at Fir Park last weekend.
The Perthshire outfit have not won a game since they beat Inverness back at the end of March, in what has been a barren spell for manager Steve Lomas and his side.
Despite the poor run of form in the league, Saints are still just three points off a top-four finish, though, and will be looking to pull off a major scalp against the champions on Thursday night.
Francisco Sandaza has been a big loss for Lomas recently following off-field issues and the Spaniard, who is by far the club’s leading goalscorer this season with 17 in 32 appearances, is unlikely to feature against Celtic.
With their limited attacking options and their less-than-convincing defensive display against Motherwell last weekend, it’s hard to see St Johnstone getting anything out of this game in their bid to close down the gap on Dundee United in fourth.
Expect Celtic to bang in the goals, then, and it would be a brave person to go against Hooper (4/7 anytime goalscorer) adding to his goalscoring tally in front of the Celtic faithful.
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Celtic manager Neil Lennon this week claimed he hated failure and would be disappointed if his side didn’t end the season with any silverware. That has no doubt heaped the pressure on his Hoops side ahead of their must-win trip to Inverness on Wednesday night.