Niall McGinn headed home to Northern Ireland for a well-earned break after his double against St Johnstone helped Celtic move within a point of the top of the table. The wide-man missed pre-season training due to the break in a metatarsal bone in his foot from the end of last season but was back in action to score in last Wednesday's 3-2 Co-operative Insurance Cup away win over Saints. It took just over a minute to open the scoring against the Perth side in the return visit to McDiarmid Park with a similar goal, pouncing on a rebound from goalkeeper Graeme Smith's save to knock in from close range. Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre doubled the visitors' lead before the Northern Ireland international finished off a convincing win a minute from the end with a sclaffed shot. McGinn is glad to be back contributing to the cause.
He said: "I am just happy to be playing again. A lot of thanks has to go to the gaffer for giving me the opportunity to play and hopefully I rewarded him by scoring goals. Most importantly we are back to winning ways and we have to keep pushing on. I missed pre-season so over the last few weeks I have been doing extra. Thankfully the international games came at the right time for me. I got a wee run-out against Italy and got 90 minutes under my belt against the Faroe Islands. Then last week I played a game for the Celtic second team and scored a couple of goals so everything is sort of going in the right direction and I just have to keep taking my opportunities when they come. Obviously the goals are a bonus, the points are the most important thing. It shows we can bounce back after an Old Firm defeat and hopefully we can go on another long run. I will go back home and put my feet up now because I'm tired after two games in three days."
Celtic boss Neil Lennon had dropped right-back Cha Du-Ri to the bench and brought in Mark Wilson but had to reinstate the South Korean and change the team-sheet after skipper Shaun Maloney withdrew minutes from kick-off after succumbing to a stomach bug. McGinn was moved over to the left and Cha moved to the right midfield position where he had an outstanding game in addition to setting up the former Derry City player for his second goal. Lennon acknowledged that Cha may well be better suited to a midfield role. He said: "It is a possibility. He's played there quite a bit and it's an option that we've looked at in training before. We didn't have much time to think about things with Shaun withdrawing. But we felt he would give us power and pace in the wide areas and he did a great job for us."
Niall McGinn headed home to Northern Ireland for a well-earned break after his double against St Johnstone helped Celtic move within a point of the top of the table. The wide-man missed pre-season training due to the break in a metatarsal bone in his foot from the end of last season but was back in action to score in last Wednesday's 3-2 Co-operative Insurance Cup away win over Saints. It took just over a minute to open the scoring against the Perth side in the return visit to McDiarmid Park with a similar goal, pouncing on a rebound from goalkeeper Graeme Smith's save to knock in from close range. Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre doubled the visitors' lead before the Northern Ireland international finished off a convincing win a minute from the end with a sclaffed shot. McGinn is glad to be back contributing to the cause.