BY KYLE GUNN

Set to take his side to Celtic Park this afternoon, St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin knows his side will face one of the most daunting tasks in Scottish football.

Saints lost there 2-0 earlier this season, but the Irishman was able to take some positives from that performance, as well as the narrow 2-1 home defeat to Neil Lennon’s men on Boxing Day.

Looking to find positives and cling on to any hope, the Buddies boss believes that Hamilton’s shock 1-0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox on Wednesday night goes to show that any result is possible in the Scottish Premiership. 

He said: "Of course we're massive underdogs. Celtic's home form has been quite incredible all season, I think they've won every game barring the Old Firm derby just before Christmas. That tells you how difficult a task it is we face.

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"I thought when we played them there in October we contained them well and got to half-time at 0-0. It was really important in the start of the second-half that we got to the hour mark and unfortunately we weren't able to do that. Celtic scored early after the break and then got another quick one so it's a tough task after that. 

"Teams have gone there and won in the past though so we've got to believe that we can as well.

"I've said numerous times this season that anyone is capable of beating anyone on their day. You need a bit of luck when you go to Parkhead and you need them to have an off day. We also need all our lads to be right at it because you can't afford to carry any players against teams like Celtic.

"They're miles ahead of everyone else in the league. Rangers were obviously very good before the winter break and they haven't been the same since. Celtic now have a 13-point gap and are well out in front."

Elsewhere, Goodwin knows that his outfit won’t have as much possession as they have enjoyed in their last two games at home to Aberdeen and St Johnstone. 

And while he’s well aware of the attacking quality which his team will have stifle to try and get something from the game, he says it is match-ups like these which encourage English Premiership sides to send their young players north of the border on loan, like Norwich have done with centre-half Akin Famewo. 

Goodwin continued: "You know you're not going to have a lot of the ball at Parkhead or Ibrox. We know how difficult it is to break teams down when you have good players organised behind the ball.

"Aberdeen and St Johnstone have done it to us in the most recent two fixtures when we've had the majority of possession. We've got to go and do that against Celtic and keep the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths and James Forrest quiet and it's going to come down to individual battles all over the pitch.

"It's a great experience for our two young centre-backs, Akin Famewo and Conor McCarthy. They'll test themselves against one of the in-form strikers in Europe. A £25m plus player, but it's a fantastic opportunity for them to show people how good they are capable of being.

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"That's the great thing about this league and the great selling point to clubs down in England when we're going to them and trying to get players like Akin Famewo on loan from Norwich.

"The fact every single week is a different game and there's huge games like this as well, it shows it's a good experience for them to come up here. I'm pretty sure the boys are looking forward to it. Parkhead will have a good atmosphere and hopefully we can frustrate the crowd."

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