Celtic on the verge of becoming history Bhoys
CELTIC stand on the verge of reaching a historic milestone when they return to league action tonight.
The runaway league leaders have been in cold storage for the past three weeks as the Scottish Premiership took a winter break but took a step closer to a domestic treble on Sunday with a 3-0 defeat of Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup.
That result means the Hoops could now equal a club record run of 26 domestic games unbeaten at the start of a season with a draw or a win against St Johnstone tonight.
That record was set by the legendary Lisbon Lions side managed by Jock Stein, who became the first British club to lift the European Cup in 1967, and present day manager Brendan Rodgers admitted it was a honour for the current crop to be mentioned alongside them.
“To be talked of in the same breath as guys who created the legend of this club would obviously be a huge privilege,” Rodgers said.
“I haven’t rea l ly t hought on it, to be honest. I just t r y to look to win our ga mes, i r r e s pe c t i v e of what t he consequences of t hat means.
“But, of course, anywhere you’re mentioned in that same breath as those guys, it gives a great privilege but we have a lot of hard work to do and St Johnstone will be a tough test for us.
“They’ve done ver y wel l wit h Tommy, and particularly away from home t hey have done wel l, so we k now it will be a good test of our qualities but it’s a not her ga me we’re look ing forward to.”
The match against St Johnstone should also see club captain Scott Brown reach his own personal landmark with the midfielder set to make his 400th appearance for the Hoops.
Brown joined Celtic from Hibs in 2007 and Rodgers was full of praise for the 31-year-old’s contribution to the club.
“It’s a remarkable achievement by a top-class professional,” he said. “I didn’t know that’s what it was but to play that number of games at a club this size, your professionalism, enthusiasm, energy for the game and commitment to being a top professional has to be there.”