'Enormous progress' - Ange Postecoglou makes Celtic claim over side that slipped up on last visit to St Mirren

When Ange Postecoglou speaks about the difference a year can make, he is referencing the strides taken by his team on the European stage. But, he will be hoping that progress will also be evident when Celtic head to Paisley on Sunday.

The last time they stopped off at the SMiSA Stadium they dropped points which left them trailing title rivals Rangers by six points. They ultimately proved more than capable of overhauling that but, already sitting on a five-point lead as the league heads into just its seventh round of fixtures, they do not want to do anything that would give their challengers a degree of optimism.

On Champions League duty there has been concern at the way they failed to capitalise on periods of pressure and bury the chances that came their way. Against Real Madrid they could have made life more difficult for the La Liga giants, while this week the absence of a clinical edge arguably cost them all three points.

“Look, it’s the hardest part of the game and the higher level you go, the more difficult it is. There aren't many players who score consistently at Champions League level and take every opportunity. The ones that do are the most priceless assets in football.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou oversees training at Lennoxtown. Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group

“We are building towards something but we know if we keep producing performances and creating chances our players will adjust to that level and score the goals to win games.

“It’s still a process. People need to understand 12 months ago a lot of these boys who played the other night hadn’t played anywhere near this level. They’ve made enormous progress over the last year, individually and as a team, and we want to make sure we continue it.”

Domestically, there has been no such profligacy in front of goal, netting 25. With no dropped points, only a single goal conceded denies them a blemish-free start to their title defence.

“We have been pretty consistent in our approach of the next game being the most important and we want to put our best foot forward again.

“St Mirren’s form has been pretty good this year and we know it’s a tough place to go, as we saw last year,” cautioned Postecoglou. “From our perspective, we’ve started the league campaign really strong and we want to continue that trend.”

Greg Taylor, whose early-season form has earned him rave reviews and a place in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad, remembers that December stutter well enough.

“It was a difficult night. We had a lot of injuries at the time. But we have aimed from the start of the new season to be a new team, to show that we have evolved and got stronger and better. We are aiming to do that throughout the season, to continue to get stronger and better. That will be no different come Sunday.

“Nobody is getting carried away. We are six games into the season. There is a lot of football to be played. All of the focus now goes to Sunday. We have got a tough game ahead of us. St Mirren have started the season pretty well and we know that we need to be right at it, not only to get the result, but to put on the performance we are capable of.”

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