A Win In Paisley Takes The Lead To Four Points

Celtic gave themselves a needed boost in the last week before they welcome Rapid Vienna to Parkhead on Thursday, beating Falkirk in the League Cup and St. Mirren in the Scottish Premier League, extending their lead there to four points after Rangers drew against Aberdeen at Ibrox.

On Saturday, the Bhoys travelled to Paisley and Paddy McCourt continued to impress, scoring Celtic's first after beating five players to strike the ball past Paul Gallagher and into the net for the opener.

While Gary Galway was dropped in favour of Stephen McManus due to "an ongoing contract dispute," St. Mirren were unable to apply much pressure on Celtic's goal, leaving 'keeper Artur Boruc little to do.

Shaun Maloney finished the match off with a ball lofted over the 'keeper, after his first shot was rebounded back to him by the head of McDonald.

If Celtic can defeat Rangers in this weekend's first Old Firm derby then they will have a decent seven-point lead over their rivals at this, admittedly early, point in the season.

The club finalized the signing of Chinese international captain Zheng Zhi on Friday but boss Tony Mowbray came under fire from those who claim that he was only brought on board to help promote the Celtic brand in the Far Eastern markets.

Mowbray denied the charge, telling the BBC that, "It was a totally footballing decision. We were looking for a midfield player, basically. We lost Paul Hartley and Shunsuke Nakamura and we needed some footballers in that area of the pitch."

The 29-year-old midfielder was the first Chinese player for Charlton Athletic, playing 12 games on loan in the 2006-7 season, then signed permanently from Shandong Luneng for a fee of £1.25 million.

In his first season in their Championship campaign he scored nine goals for his club, but decided to move on after the Addicks were relegated to League One.

He will be unavailable for the Europa League campaign though, since he was not signed before that competition's deadline.

Celtic will host Hearts in the quarter-finals of the Co-Operative Insurance Cup at the end of the month after beating the Bairns 4-0 at Falkirk Stadium last Wednesday evening.

Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo said he was looking forward to the game but, talking to the Hearts' website he was obviously aware that his team needs to avoid giving up a late winner to the Bhoys: "It's a different type of game, because cup games have their own rules.

"But we must go with confidence and try to get to the next round.

"It does not matter if we are at home or away. Everything is possible. Sometimes it is easier to play against a team like Celtic because you do not require any extra motivation.

"Celtic being favourites possibly makes it easier for us, but we will go for the victory."