The Celtic supporters can sense it after slogging out another gritty 3 points against Dundee on Sunday – we’re getting closer and closer to title success.
It’s still a fair bit away of course. Being 3 points clear at the top of the Premiership with 11 games still to play guarantees you absolutely nothing. But the fact we’ve had a 9 point swing since the winter break has only increased the excitement levels at Parkhead.
Celtic are on a 10-game winning run domestically after a 0-0 draw with St Mirren back in late December. If we produce a similar run, the title will be coming back to Parkhead after a one-year hiatus.
Our next target after yet another big success on Sunday is to remain on top heading into the split. Before then, we have 6 vital Premiership matches to overcome. No less than 6 consecutive wins should be the target, and if we come out of that run with that record, we’ll be a few massive strides closer to the title.
But even our next 6-game league run will have plenty of big challenges, starting next Sunday with a trip to Easter Road. Back in October, Ange ended a dismal run of 7 years without a league success there in a convincing 3-1 success. Even so, as they look to build momentum under Shaun Maloney once more, our recent barren run in Leith is a symbol of just how difficult that particular task is. It’s one of our main challenges between now and the split.
3 days later, Celtic will be up against a St Mirren side currently smarting after losing manager Jim Goodwin to Aberdeen. A short turnaround from the Easter Road clash, Ange will be looking to keep things fresh. It remains to be seen where they are in a managerial sense come that period. Perhaps we’ll be up against Scott Brown [Daily Mail].
Celtic have a tough schedule before post-split games come around
And there’ll be no rest for the weary after the St Mirren clash either. It’s back to the Tony Macaroni Arena 4 days later to face the only side in the league we haven’t beaten yet in Livingston. We suffered a 1-0 defeat to David Martindale’s side back in September before succumbing to a 0-0 draw at home to the Lions a month later. It’s the second of 3 tough away games in our 6-match run, and it’s another tough challenge that needs to be tackled head-on.
March 19th will see Ross County visit Celtic Park in what is an extremely winnable game on paper. Granted, our dramatic success against Dundee on Sunday showed exactly why we can’t underestimate anyone.
An international break will give the Hoops stars a much-needed rest from what will be an intense phase of the title race after that. However, when we come back, a trip to Ibrox awaits us on Sunday, April 3rd. Our final pre-split fixture will then see St Johnstone arrive at Celtic Park as we await to see just how closer we are to the title before we face the top 6 once again.
It’s a hugely difficult run of games. Despite recent wins away to Hearts and Aberdeen, the tough away-days just won’t go anywhere. Trips to Hibernian and Livingston stand out like a sore thumb before our final pre-split away clash at Ibrox.
If anything highlights the intense nature of the race this season, it’s this particular run of games. We’ve already beaten everyone in the top 6 since coming back from the winter break. Now, we’re set to face the trickiest away days we could possibly ask for.
It won’t get any easier from here on in. Some major questions are about to be asked of Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic, let’s see if we do indeed have the answers this season.
In other news, Airdrieonians boss says Celtic youngster dug them “out of a hole” after just 1 game
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