Johan Mjallby admits having to virtually build a new Celtic team last summer was a worry - so Sunday's events came with a sense of achievement. Celtic had two reasons to celebrate at the weekend. They followed up their home 4-1 win over Dundee United, which kept the pressure on Rangers, by watching left-back Emilio Izaguirre pick up the the PFA Scotland Player of the Year Award. The Honduras left-back was among eight players who started against United who joined the club after the end of last season, while another, teenager James Forrest, was handed his debut by manager Neil Lennon. Mjallby knew it was a risk bringing in so many new players but seeing Izaguirre collecting the award ahead of competition from another summer signing, Gary Hooper, was further vindication of their policy.
The Swede said: "We are just so happy that we have really improved this team. With 11 or 12 new signings we knew it was a wee bit of a worry if we would be able to get them to gel so quickly but I think we have done a good job and the players have been a credit to themselves."
Mjallby would have had few complaints if someone had told him in July that Celtic would win the title if they claimed wins in their final four games. Celtic will go top of the table by two points on Wednesday if they win their game in hand over Rangers at Inverness. He said: "I would probably have been happier if we were eight points ahead right now and I could take it easy and relax a bit. But that's why you are working at this club - you want to be in the spotlight and working at a club with a chance to win titles. We know it's probably going to go all the way so it's up to us to just concentrate on ourselves and try to win these four games."