CELTIC will begin the defence of their Scottish Premiership title at home to St Mirren on Sunday.
Hoops legend Paul McStay will unfurl the flag at Celtic Park before kick off after their success last season took their tally to 55 league trophies.
It extended Celtic’s title winning run to four as they finished 17 points clear of fierce rivals Rangers.
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson though insists they are not there to make up the numbers.
The Buddies came within minutes of an upset on the final day of last season against Celtic before James Forrest struck an injury-time equaliser.
It continued his remarkable success of scoring in 16 consecutive seasons.
Celtic played seven friendlies over the course of last month, with standout victories over Sporting Lisbon and Newcastle United.
They wrapped up their pre-season schedule with a penalty shoot-out win over Saudi Arabia side Al-Ahly in the Como Cup last week.
But Rodgers has made no secret of his desire to strengthen the squad to replace the goals lost after the departures of Nicolas Kuhn, Kyogo and Matt O’Riley over the past 12 months.
And fans are frustrated too with what they see as a lack of transfer activity.
Meanwhile, Saints have punched above their weight in recent seasons securing three top-six finishes in the last three years.
Stephen Robinson’s men have made a promising start to the new campaign, qualifying for the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup after victory against Ayr Utd last weekend.
They’ll host Hearts later this month but for now the focus is on league action as the Premiership returns this weekend.
When does Celtic vs St Mirren kick-off?
- Celtic face St Mirren on Sunday, August 3
- The match takes place at Celtic Park.
- It kicks off at 4.30pm
- Don Robertson is the referee and Greg Aitken is on VAR duties
Is Celtic vs St Mirren on TV? Can I live stream it?
- Celtic vs St Mirren has been selected for live TV coverage by Sky Sports
- It’ll be shown live on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event and Celtic TV.
- Coverage gets underway on Sky channels after the Falkirk vs Dundee United game.
- Sky Sports subscribers can live stream the match via Sky Go
- The match is also available to watch with a one-off Now TV subscription
- You can also follow every kick with SunSport’s LIVE match blog
Latest team news
Jota is out for the hosts and won’t be back until after the new year after rupturing his cruciate ligament.
Swedish star Benjamin Nygren, signed in a cut-price deal from Nordsjaelland, is in contention to make his debut for Celtic whilst there also could be second league debut for Kieran Tierney.
Japanese striker Shin Yamada could feature as well but the game is likely to come too soon for Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who is on the verge of joining from Manchester City on loan.
For the visitors, Robinson has made nine summer signings as well as bringing back Roland Idowu and Killian Phillips.
But he says not all of them will be in contention for starts on Sunday.
Richard King though is expected to make his Buddies league debut at centre-back after joining from Cavalier FC in the Caribbean.
Latest odds*
Celtic 2/11
Draw 7/1
Read more on the Scottish Sun
St Mirren 16/1
*odds as of Friday, August 1. 22:30
