St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson believes his side can do the double over Celtic as he prepares for Wednesday’s trip to Glasgow’s East End.
The Saints remain the only domestic side to inflict defeat on the champions this season, recording a 2-0 victory at St Mirren Park in September, and Robinson is hoping to use that performance as a blueprint for success this week.
He told PA Sport: “When you beat teams of that calibre it gives you belief in the system you are playing and the players alongside you.
“We proved we can compete with Celtic, we proved we can compete with the best teams in the country.
“But it is a different game, it is a different game as well at Celtic Park with 60,000 people behind them. It is a big pitch and the energy of the crowd drives you on as well.
“We go with respect of course for a very good side and a top manager – but we go with belief.”
Following Friday’s narrow 1-0 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle, St Mirren currently occupy 6th place in the Premiership.
Wednesday presents an opportunity to move clear of closest rivals Hibernian by picking up points at Parkhead, but Robinson knows they need to perform at their very best to halt a Celtic side unbeaten since tasting defeat in Paisley.
He said: “The biggest key is you have to keep the ball. When you have the ball you have to be brave because if you defend for 96 minutes, eventually someone will make a mistake and get punished.
“At the moment it is (the toughest fixture). They are a very good side, they play with energy and pace, that’s the biggest thing. They are non-stop and I said that at the first game.
“The speed of their turnover and play, their cleverness around the box is something we know about, it is not a surprise to us. We have worked on trying to stop that.
“We have to approach it differently than the home game and make sure we are hard to break down and hard to beat.”
