What Celtic ‘would have thought’ before St Johnstone clash as fight for life overlooked

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The word “complacency” is one that’s been banded about where Celtic are concerned in recent weeks.

A 3-2 defeat to Rangers at Parkhead is where it all began before Sunday’s loss to St Johnstone also saw the word creeping back into the vocabulary.

Even Callum McGregor said the same while manager Brendan Rodgers explained how he feels some of his Celtic stars have taken their feet off the gas pedal as the league looks won.

That’s what Premier Sports pundit Alan Hutton reckons was the case at McDiarmid Park as Saints ran out 1-0 winners on the day as Celtic looked well off the mark.

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Alan Hutton says Celtic assumed they’d turn up and win

And the 40-year-old believes some Celtic players would perhaps have thought they could turn up and see off their opponents early without realising Simo Valakari’s outfit have their Scottish Premiership life to fight for.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	32	25	3	4	92	21	71	78
2	RangersRangers	32	20	5	7	66	33	33	65
3	HibernianHibernian	32	13	11	8	50	41	9	50
4	AberdeenAberdeen	32	14	7	11	43	47	-4	49
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	32	13	8	11	40	40	0	47
6	Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian	32	11	6	15	43	44	-1	39

“I didn’t see it coming, to be honest,” the ex-Rangers defender admitted on the Social Club pod.

“I think sometimes from a Celtic point of view, they’re so far ahead and you maybe go there thinking, ‘Right we’re playing bottom of the league, probably get a couple early goals and that’ll be it done’.

“St Johnstone are fighting for their lives and you can tell by the way they played. They carried a threat and weathered the storm, but throwing bodies on the line.

“You could see it meant everything to them and that’s why they ran out winners, in the end.”

What’s been said in aftermath of St Johnstone’s win over Celtic

There’s been plenty said in the way of reaction to Celtic’s defeat to the Saints.

Nicolas Kuhn and Jeffrey Schlupp were both taken off at half-time by Rodgers and there was a divide in opinion on Schupp’s permanent stay at Celtic Park given his recent form.

Adam Idah also looked furious at teammate Yang who might have teed him up for a leveller had he made the right call with a cutback.

Overall it was another disappointment that Celts can’t afford to let get to their heads with St Johnstone to come in the Scottish Cup semi-final in a fortnight’s time.