IF THIS piece was written earlier this year, it would probably have focussed on St Johnstone's Ali McCann and how a Celtic midfield comprised of attack-minded ballers would nullify the Northern Irishman.

Well, Preston North End grabbed themselves a nice bargain during the summer transfer window, nabbing McCann for less than £2m - with the add-ons - and Saints brought in former Accies playmaker Ali Crawford, who scored a winner at Celtic Park in 2013, to replace him.

Celtic and St Johnstone will meet again in less than a month with the prize for winning that game not three points, but a place in the League Cup final and, in my opinion, that's an issue Ange Postecoglou has to consider; The visitors, who haven't played Celtic yet this season, have an opportunity to experience playing against Postecoglou's side shortly before the game with more at stake.

Today, they could well be marvelled by the movement of Kyogo, stunned by the skill of Jota and dazed at the dynamism of Abada, but that is unlikely to be the case next month if they've witnessed Celtic's prowess in full-flow before then.

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Celtic need to win tomorrow with Hearts and United also above them in the table and with rangers playing on Sunday, so it's unlikely Postecoglou will keep any cards close to his chest in terms of selection or tactics, but he might be wary of revealing everything to Callum Davidson, who might use tomorrow as a blueprint for his semi-final plans.

Celtic are huge favourites for the game, as they are for the vast, vast majority of domestic ones, so will play to their strengths as Ange Postecoglou has insisted on numerous occasions.

Callum McGregor is the usual sole-anchor in midfield but is instinctively and naturally an attack-minded player. He's adapting well and is a super heir to Scott Brown's throne, but they are different players, although Brown also had to adapt after breaking through as a pacey midfielder at Hibs.

St Johnstone have a wonderful tool in their box in the shape of David Wotherspoon. He's one of the most skilful players in the division, capable of manoeuvring into, and manipulating, space with the ball at his feet and drifting into pockets that can hurt the opposition. Writing as someone who saw St Johnstone play live almost a dozen times last season, he was consistently one of their best performers in a superb year and keeping a close eye on him will be important for Celtic.

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Sure, Saints will probably adapt their game as most other clubs do when they come to Glasgow and Wotherspoon might not see much of the ball, but it only takes a second with him so McGregor's deep-dictator role may have to be done in tandem with making sure Wotherspoon can't create much when it matters for the visitors.

Postecoglou has confirmed Josip Juranovic is available for selection. It's been a few weeks since he played for the first team and in the meantime, Tony Ralston has continued his quite impressive start to the season. Having Juranovic available is a boost though, no question, but the wonder is will he be put straight back into the team and if so, how might that affect Ralston's morale? He's done nothing to deserve losing his jersey, but there's a pecking order. It's a conundrum for Postecoglou, but one he might welcome.