Celtic’s Matt O’Riley puts Scottish Premiership on notice

The St Mirren game that is. The 2-0 loss in Paisley back in September is the Hoops' only blemish in a Scottish Premiership copybook that has yielded 15 league wins out of 16 so far.

Although the former Fulham and MK Dons player didn't start against the Saints on that dark day he readily admits that he could have done more to influence the final outcome when he came on.

O'Riley fully believes Ange Postecoglou's men should be sporting a 100 per cent league win rate from their league encounters so far. He is also aiming to emulate the high bar that Celtic set before Christmas during the second half of the campaign.

Ultimately, the Denmark under-21 international reckons the defeat to St Mirren was a harsh reminder of what can happen when you don't bring your A-game to the table in every match.

O'Riley said: "I still think we are slightly frustrated about the St Mirren game that we dropped points in. In my opinion, we should look to win every game, that is obviously the aim.

"That was a bit frustrating at St Mirren and I sensed then it was a wake-up call for us to really stay on it every single game. We did well to do that and that is how we approach games now.

"I was on the pitch later, so I was still involved. I could have impacted the game and when I was on we still didn’t score. That was just an off day for us. We don’t have many of them, so we hope that won’t happen again."

O'Riley, though, has every reason to be pleased with his own contribution as Postecoglou turned to him when inspirational skipper Callum McGregor was sidelined from October.

McGregor announced his return to the Celtic first-team fold in spectacular fashion when he cracked home a stunning late winner at Pittodrie yesterday as the Hoops reeled off a late 1-0 triumph.

READ MORE: Celtic captain Callum McGregor's big Hollywood ending

However, it is a testament to O'Riley's displays that Celtic did not drop a single point in McGregor's absence when he was deployed in the number six role.

O'Riley revealed that stepping into the breach of such a massive figure at the club was a great learning experience and it even helped develop some aspects of his own game.

He said: "I think it has added a different layer to my game. I have played deeper before but I don’t think I have done that as a single pivot. It was good, a good experience for me. I learned a lot of things defensive, especially. So I hope I can add that side to my game and with my usual creative side I should be in a good place going into the next part of the season."

Ironically having played in a deeper role for his club over the last two months O'Riley has yet to get off the mark for Celtic this season despite leading the assists charts with seven.

He has scored twice for his country as well as bagging three in non-competitive matches for Celtic between pre-season and the World Cup break.

O'Riley said: "I think that will change soon. I’m not too worried about that. I am quite confident that playing a bit further forward again with Callum (McGregor) fit again, I can get in more positions to get those chances. Sometimes, players go through phases where for whatever reason [the goals don’t come]. For me, everything seems to be going pretty well other than that, so if I can add that layer in the last part of the season I will be in a really good place. I am fully confident the lack of goals situation will change pretty soon for me."

With the January transfer looming all sorts of players are now being linked with big-money moves away from Celtic - O'Riley included - which may well lead to the break-up of the champions.

Postecoglou's men are still chasing down the domestic treble yet teammates Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis could be set for the Parkhead exit door next month.

O'Riley insists that he isn't worried that all the speculation will have a destabilising or negative effect on the Celtic players as to a man they remain well-drilled and disciplined and nothing will derail the current squad from what they want to achieve.

He said: "We don’t speak about that when we are together. Everyone is focused on what our goal is as a team and that is to win games and perform well for the club. There is always going to be noise externally. That is inevitable. It is probably something I have got more used to since I have been here.

"At the start, it was quite a lot for me to take, to be honest. Now, I am more used to it. To be honest, a lot of the stuff you see might not be true, and some of it might be. But at the same time, we are here to do a job for this football club and as long as none of us is distracted from that we will be fine."