Celtic went to Fir Park two weeks ago to take on Motherwell on the back of superb domestic form.
They had just defeated Aberdeen to lift the Betfred Cup, their seventh consecutive domestic trophy.
In Europe, they’d also defeated Red Bull Leipzig and Rosenborg, taking them to the brink of qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League.
Despite their away form being tetchy, they had won three of their last four on the road in the league.
Celtic took an early lead through Ryan Christie, before Leigh Griffiths missed a penalty later on. It looked like Celtic would hold out for a vital three points.
However, Motherwell scored with their only real chance in the game and took two points away from Celtic in the last minutes.
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Since then, Celtic responded by thumping Kilmarnock 5-1 in a stunning Celtic Park display. However, defeats to Salzburg and Hibs have followed and Celtic are in a mini-blip in terms of form.
More worryingly, Celtic’s last two performances have been nothing like the standard set during their domestic resurgence from late October onward.
Tonight at Celtic Park, they must put those two performances behind them in front of an expectant crowd.
The fans want to see a hungry, attacking side like they did against Kilmarnock. The two poor showings recently cannot become a hat-trick of horrors.
Celtic know that if they do what’s asked of them, win games, they will win their eight straight league title.
They can only deny themselves, and if they play like they have recently, worry may start to creep in.
Motherwell should be met with a wounded animal tonight in Celtic. The players should be hurting after the last week and its imperative that they take that out on the Steelmen.
Ready steady go
With European football on the back burner until February, Celtic must sort out their domestic form again.
They were on a 12 match unbeaten domestic run until defeat at Hibs. They must do all they can to better that this time around, starting tonight.
The only way to do that, is to replicate their home form from recent matches. Starting with attacking intent early on, putting Motherwell under immense pressure immediately.
Hibs, Hearts and Kilmarnock couldn’t handle the heat as Celtic scored 14 goals in their last three league games at Celtic Park.
Tonight, Celtic must take out their recent frustration on Motherwell. Otherwise, the doubt around the club may start to grow.