Deja vu as Saints suffer another 'painful, late & avoidable' loss to Celtic

If matches against Celtic finished in the 86th minute, we'd have five points to show for our bouts in the past six months.

But, as you may have noticed, they don't. If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all have a wonderful Christmas...

Separating the performance witnessed from the points total secured is becoming a tiring exercise, both specific to our showings against Celtic and on general league duty these past few months.

The tactics on Saturday night appeared spot on. Conor McMenamin was drafted in to cover for the injured Mark O'Hara, out of position but with a well-defined job to do: mark Calum McGregor.

For 80 minutes, the normally direct winger indulged his manager and upset the visitors' normal rhythm.

St Mirren had a mere 25% or so of possession, yet had the far more dangerous chances. We can save the discussion of own goals being disallowed as 'active offsides' for another date, but McMenamin's breath on the back of Liam Scales neck seems to have been enough to rule out an OG at which he had already swung a defensive leg.

All that being said, it is points that matter and Celtic, yet again, did what was required to snare them away.

A last-minute substitution, aimed either at replacing an exhausted Keanu Baccus or simply disrupting Celtic's forward momentum, provided both the added time in added time and, arguably, the half yard McGregor had needed all night.

As his long-distance strike soared beyond Shamal George, the deja vu was instant and punishing in yet another painful, late and avoidable defeat.

I'm wary of being critical of players and manager in this tough run of results. There is no questioning the effort, and plenty evidence the set-up is correct.

Tiny margins have robbed the SMISA Stadium of five of the past seven Saints goals scored there, while even the smallest of defensive errors have been ruthlessly punished.

This remains the side of top-half finishes and semi-final victory, and trust that results will follow performances should remain resolute.

We've done it before, we'll do it again and we have a cup final to look forward to. On the basis of frustrating Celtic for several hours already this season, optimism is an entirely reasonable stance to take.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters