What we learned from Celtic training before St Mirren as Brendan Rodgers dishes out advice and star returns

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Celtic take on St Mirren this evening as they look to consolidate their lead at the top of the Premiership.

Brendan Rodgers watched his rampant Celtic side batter Aberdeen 5-1 in midweek as they bounced back from what was a disappointing defeat to Hibs last weekend.

It was always about redemption and the Hoops earned just that to ensure they stayed 13 points clear at the summit of the division with not too many fixtures remaining on the calendar before the split.

The schedule also looks a little lighter now for Celtic with no midweek distractions and that has allowed Rodgers and his squad to finally take stock and prepare themselves properly for this evening.

It’s the Buddies in Paisley who are the opponents in the 5.30pm kick-off and 67 Hail Hail has pored over the club’s training footage from Lennoxtown to pick out some interesting tidbits before the game.

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Adam Idah stakes his claim

Adam Idah has had a rough time of it at Celtic this season.

His stats are not particularly great, nor are they poor either, but the Irishman has had to bide his time with Kyogo initially keeping him out of the starting XI.

He has netted a handful in recent times with his double vs Aston Villa in particular lighting a fire under him, but he has been unfortunate again with Daizen Maeda flourishing and showing him how to do it as the lone striker.

That has never deterred the big man and he continues to work as hard as ever. We predict Idah will start vs St Mirren.

Greg Taylor back in action

The left-back missed Celtic’s victory at Celtic Park over Aberdeen and manager Rodgers explained how that was down to his wife going into labour to give birth to their first child.

It would have been a heartwarming moment for the defender and we at 67HH hope mother and baby are happy and healthy.

For Taylor himself, though, it was right back into the thick of it as he trained with his teammates ahead of the trip to Paisley and Rodgers confirmed in his pre-match presser this week that the 27-year-old would be back in the squad with Jeffrey Schlupp surely hoping to keep him out of the starting XI.

Brendan Rodgers hands out Celtic advice

Rodgers has taken a step back from coaching at Celtic in recent times as he explained after the Premier Sports Cup Final back in December.

That simply means the daily drills that his coaching staff – led by John Kennedy and Adam Sadler – take the squad through on a daily basis.

That has not stopped Rodgers from being on the grass and monitoring his players and he clearly still sees value in being particular with the specifics. The manager was spotted having a one-to-one with Taylor as well as with Jude Bonnar who we expect to see more of soon.

Patience is a virtue

Speaking of Bonnar, the young man clearly has a future at the club otherwise Rodgers would not have given him his debut in the Aberdeen rout.

Unlike Daniel Cummings, Rodgers did not dive right into calls for patience when asked to discuss Bonnar’s chances of making it as a Celtic player.

The 19-year-old seems to have his head switched on and has integrated well into the first-team set-up as he continued to train with the big Bhoys before St Mirren.

Will probably be on the bench.