I watched Celtic beat St Johnstone - reliance on player is glaring and 24 y/o may not face Rangers

Mika Baur scored Celtic’s only goal of the game on 52 minutes to move the champions five points clear of second-placed Rangers at the summit.

Mark Atkinson was in Perth to cover the match for The Scotsman and picks out three talking points:

Johnstone or Sinisalo?

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill decided to give Sam Johnstone his debut and the Wolves loanee put in an impressive performance.

Johnstone’s key moment came in the first half when he made a fingertip save to deny Joel Cotterill, which won praise from his manager. The 33-year-old was assured in every other aspect of his game and commanded his penalty box. The only moment of concern came ten minutes from the end when he went down with cramp.

Viljami Sinisalo has started every game in goal for Celtic since February 26 and while the Finn has grown into the No 1 role at Parkhead, there has always been a need for viable alternative for the 24-year-old.

Johnstone’s display was such that it now gives O’Neill a major decision to make on Sunday at Ibrox against Rangers - revert back to Sinisalo or keep faith with the loanee?

Sinisalo has experience of Ibrox and has played well there in the past. He also has a deeper-seated rapport with the defenders in front of him. Some would even argue that the former Aston Villa man hasn’t made a sufficient enough error to be dropped. He’s been dependable and improved in the last six months.

Johnstone’s pedigree is stronger. He has amassed years of English Premier League action and has four caps for England. He came through the ranks at Manchester United and has a presence about him that feels stronger that Sinisalo. When he leapt to deny Cotterill from close range, the question that came to mind was ‘would Sinisalo have saved it’?

O’Neill needs a keeper who can come up with match-winning saves and in Johnstone’s first game, he did that. It is why it would be no surprise if the 33-year-old gets his first taste of Old Firm action on Sunday.

The reliance on CCV

For the first time this season, Cameron Carter-Vickers didn’t feature for Celtic. The American was given the night off - which is understandable given he spent months on the sidelines with a ruptured Achilles.

Last season we saw just how much Carter-Vickers was missed and while Celtic kept a clean sheet against St Johnstone, there wasn’t a complete air of security surrounding the Celtic back line of Colby Donovan, Dane Murray, Auston Trusty and Liam Scales.

Murray has some early dicey moments before settling into the game and he became stronger with aerial duels as the night went on. But he and his fellow defenders looked uncomfortable when pressed by the Saints players.

If there is one part of the Celtic team that still looks under-resourced, it is the centre of defence.

O’Neill expects Carter-Vickers to be back for the Rangers game and his presence is a must in such a white-hot environment.

VAR controversy

In the end, it didn’t matter - but there would have no doubt been uproar over Celtic’s disallowed goal on 66 minutes had the champions not won in Perth.

Haissem Hassan saw his goal chalked off when volleying home a Kasper Hogh header because it was deemed that Sebastian Tounekti’s cross in the build-up had drifted out of play.

There was a brief delay while VAR checked the incident, which to the naked eye looked tight. It then emerged that a full review of the incident could not take place because the cameras weren’t able to pick out the full flight of the ball.

Sky Sports commentator Ian Crocker said: "Because the ball went out of the camera frame, VAR had to stick with the on-field decision.”

The decision was deemed “baffling” by the broadcaster’s pundit Chris Sutton, who later posted on X: “Clean sheet and another big 3 points for Celtic. Frustrating final ball in the first half. Got there in the end. Baur neat and tidy with the all important goal. Maybe unfortunate not to win by more after a baffling decision by the assistant when he thought the ball went out…"

Let’s hope for no such incidents on Sunday ...