Celtic v Ross County: Ange Postecoglou can kick-start domestic unbeaten run with timely win over Staggies

The Glasgow derby defeat may be in the rear-view mirror but Ange Postecoglou will be looking to put it firmly out of sight with a comprehensive victory on Saturday (3pm).

In his path is Ross County, a team who have upset the odds against Celtic a few times over the years and against whom the Hoops did not enjoy competing with last season.

Here, we look closer at the Celtic v Staggies history and the importance of Postecoglou's men kick-starting a good run of form domestically with a win over the Highlanders.

Don't call it a hoodoo

Celtic have lost two of their last three matches against County.

OK, that doesn't exactly fit the definition of a hoodoo or a jinx but they're not a million miles away from bogy team territory given the big results they've pulled off against the Hoops in the past decade or so.

And for all last season's struggles, their recent Rangers woes aside Celtic's record against every other team in the league is still an altogether more positive one than against the Staggies.

Hearts, for instance, just defeated Postecoglou's men in the league opener. That was, however, their first taste of victory in the fixture since August 2018. Likewise, St Johnstone were cup double winners last term but could not defeat Celtic and haven't done so since May 2016.

What of Aberdeen? Celtic's closest challengers for a few years last triumphed in May 2018. Hibs are on a three-draw run against the Hoops but ultimately December 2018 was the last time they came out on top.

It's worse for the likes of Motherwell (no wins since December 2015) and Dundee (11 losses on the bounce and no wins since 2001).

And given the clubs vying with County in last season's relegation battle also have such poor records - Hamilton (15 losses in a row, no wins since January 2015) and Kilmarnock (nine without a win back to September 2018) - the Highlanders winning two out of the last three ain't bad at all.

Familiar foes

Of course, Celtic's various points of distress last season was a factor but, as Hoops fans will know all too well, this latest run of matches is not the first such poor spell against the Highlanders.

In amongst some hammerings - a 5-0 last September and a 6-0 in October 2019 spring to mind - County have fared well against the Hoops for a club of their size.

Of the first seven meetings between the sides - starting in January 2004 when Celtic won 2-0 and ending with the 1-1 draw in May 2013 - the results were pretty even at three Celtic wins, two County wins and two draws.

Most Celtic fans will remember the deflation of defeat to the Highlanders in April 2010, when then-interim manager Neil Lennon's hopes of picking up a trophy to create a silver lining in an otherwise cloudy season was swotted aside by the Staggies in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

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After the May 2013 draw Celtic grabbed hold of the head-to-head record comfortably by winning six of their next eight encounters before the Staggies charged again to toss Ronny Deila's men out of the 2016 League Cup at the last-four stage.

Normal service then resumed with Celtic going 12 competitive matches unbeaten against County for the concession of just one draw in that time. That ended in all too familiar circumstances in November 2020 when the Staggies stung Lennon once more by rocking up to Parkhead and winning 2-0 in the last 16 of the League Cup.

The Hoops got their revenge with a 2-0 victory of their own a month later but the last laugh was to be County's as ex-Celtic defender John Hughes - then at the helm of the Highlanders - led his relegation-threatened side to a crucial 1-0 win at Victoria Park in February.

So how important is a winning run?

Much of the dialogue surrounding the end of the transfer window and thus the end of Postecoglou's first few months in the hotseat has centred round the need for a lengthy winning run.

It's logical. After all, losing two of your opening four league matches is not great regardless of the performances within each of the games. But how important is a winning streak to a title charge?

In the past five seasons the Scottish Premiership has contained two undefeated league campaigns: Rangers last term and Celtic during Brendan Rodgers' invincible treble season back in 2016-17.

The average points tally of the league winners over those five seasons was just less than 92. While the Covid-shortened season in 2019-20 naturally inhibits this total both undefeated seasons saw 100-plus points accumulated by the titlists (102 for Rangers last campaign, 106 for Celtic in 2016-17).

The real outlier season was 2017-18, when Celtic could only put together three wins at any given time in the league schedule. They did this four times that campaign but of bigger consequence was that, while they did not accumulate a lengthy winning run, they did remain undefeated for longer than either of their subsequent title wins.

All of which isn't to say a winning streak has no bearing on a title run. It's simply logical that you must win games consistently to lift trophies in football. Winning, they say, is a habit after all and despite the positive performances under Postecoglou so far it's a habit his side have not yet gotten into.

But staying unbeaten is a habit Celtic were enjoying for almost a decade and Postecoglou himself is no stranger to that feeling. With Brisbane Roar the Greek-Australian masterminded an unprecedented 36-game streak. And by 'unprecedented' that's not just in terms of football - it's Australian club sports' longest such run full stop.

Who would bet against the club so used to winning and the manager who's proved his relentless style can apply to results as well as tactics finding the right balance and putting together a run that could be the backbone of a title push?

The next chapter

That push begins again in earnest when the Highlanders come to Glasgow's east end on Saturday afternoon.

On this occasion Celtic are going into the match with an international break separating them from their Glasgow derby defeat at Ibrox, but Postecoglou will be expecting a response nonetheless.

At his disposal he could have a trio of deadline-day signings in Giorgos Giakoumakis, Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers as well as the returning Greg Taylor and James Forrest.

One concern, however, is that of Kyogo Furuhashi. The forward limped off during Japan's match against China earlier in the week with a suspected knee injury, with the club yet to confirm his availability for the County match.

In the blue corner, County's start to the season has been mixed. Their opening four matches brought creditable draws against Aberdeen and St Johnstone while they might have lost to Rangers but they did find the net twice and, according to WyScout, finished with a higher expected goals value in that game too.

Regardless, Malky Mackay's side go into Saturday's match without a win in the league yet and will be hoping recent history repeats itself. A sell-out crowd will be trusting they are mistaken.