Callum McGregor lays out how Celtic will approach St Johnstone clash as priorities clear

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Celtic travel to St Johnstone this weekend knowing three points are needed to maintain their advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The Bhoys are level on points with Aberdeen in the league standings. However, they hold a positive goal differential of seven over Jimmy Thelin’s side ahead of their travel to Dundee earlier in the day.

St Johnstone are still to appoint a manager after Craig Levein left the club last week. Celtic icon Scott Brown was firmly in contention for the role but chose to stay at Ayr United despite late attempts from owner Adam Webb.

Larne boss Tiernan Lynch and Aberdeen coach Peter Leven may be in the dugout by Saturday evening. If not, interim Andy Kirk would be in charge of the hosts for the visit of the Scottish Premiership champions.

Unfazed by speculation surrounding St Johnstone, Callum McGregor has laid out how Celtic plan to approach the encounter this weekend.

Callum McGregor on Celtic’s approach against St Johnstone

Laying down the law, McGregor signified that Celtic will go all out to ‘dominate’ at McDiarmid Park as they look to maintain their 100% start in the Scottish Premiership.

He stated [Celtic FC]: “There’s two sides to that (St Johnstone manager speculation). Obviously for us, we just try to focus on ourselves as much as we can. Of course we’ll have a look at St Johnstone in terms of the way we think they’ll try and stop us, from maybe looking at previous games.

“But the onus is more on us, and what we can do, and the little bits picking up from the weekend where we can get better.”

“And then of course a manager may come in and that might change the game plan for them, but as much as we can, we look at ourselves and see how we can go and dominate the game.”

Celtic and the clean sheet motivation on Saturday evening

Celtic don’t just have three points to play for on Saturday evening; they also have the small matter of potentially breaking a 118-year clean sheet record to target.

The Bhoys are yet to concede a single goal in their opening five Scottish Premiership fixtures. Winning in Perth and performing another shutout would take that total without being breached into landmark territory.

First and foremost, three points against St Johnstone will be the paramount concern. The Saints will be a tough nut to crack. They are always on home soil.

However, there could be cause for celebration with the added bonus of entering the history books, which would set Celtic up nicely for their Champions League jaunt to Borussia Dortmund next week.