Andy Halliday loved the ‘infectious energy’ of Celtic pair who zapped Hoops into life vs St Mirren

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Celtic had to be patient on their way to securing three points against St Mirren.

The Hoops marked Flag Day with a 1-0 victory over the stubborn Buddies and got their Scottish Premiership campaign off to a good start.

St Mirren were dogged and organised across the encounter, which Scottish football has come to expect under their manager Stephen Robinson.

But Celtic found a way as Luke McCowan’s deflected effort reached the bottom corner of the net to put the Bhoys in front with just three minutes of normal time left.

And Andy Halliday picked out McCowan as one of Celtic’s most pivotal players in the win, as well as one other impact substitute.

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Halliday hails Luke McCowan & James Forrest against St Mirren

That was winger James Forrest, with both him and McCowan introduced in the second-half by Brendan Rodgers as substitutes.

McCowan was the match winner, while Forrest typically came on and offered zest and creativity that helped Celtic get over the line.

Halliday saw both players impact the game hugely for Celtic, telling Clyde 1 Superscoreboard: “In terms of the overall intensity and tempo of Celtic’s play, I thought there was a real shift in that with the introduction of McCowan and Forrest.

“I thought the two of them just brought a real infectious energy to the game, movement to get on the ball, play quicker, to run forward. And I thought that galvanised the team for the rest of the game.

“You did always feel, although it wasn’t a vintage Celtic performance, you always felt that goal and the pressure was ultimately going to count towards the end.”

Forrest & McCowan’s key stats vs St Mirren

Forrest was brought on after just 59 minutes for Yang Hyun-jun on the right wing, with the latter having a rather poor game on his first start of the season.

Yang failed to get any sort of shot away, while Forrest was able to register an effort in less time than the South Korean.

Forrest did give the ball away a few times, however his impact inside the St Mirren box was much more telling than Yang’s, who had just one touch in the Buddies penalty area.

McCowan only had 18 minutes on the park but made two passes into the final third, registered 8/9 accurate passes and 100% of his shots on goal were on target.