St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright is taking Celtic’s decision to switch the January fixture between the two clubs in his stride.
The Scottish champions risked the wrath some Saints fans after making a request to the SPFL to postpone their match on January 10 something Premiership clubs are entitled to do and move it to another date.
That means the trip to Parkhead will now almost certainly have to be made midweek, but Wright told Courier Sport yesterday that it should not cause Saints any problems in terms of preparation.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.
“I didn’t realise the option was still available, but it’s Celtic’s prerogative.
“They’ll probably still be in Europe so some warm weather training and a nice break for them will be nice, but it’ll not make much difference to us.
“We’ll probably just have the weekend off which probably isn’t a bad thing when you look at how many games there are at the end of December and January.
“So I’ve no problems with it and I’m happy we’ll probably have a weekend off.”
Celtic took the opportunity to invoke their right to ask for a postponement in January due to the fact they will have played 35 competitive games by the time they face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on January 5.
Their move to have a short mid-season hiatus and training camp at that stage of the season has reignited the debate over whether or not the whole of Scottish football should have an enforced winter break, but Wright remains largely unconvinced.
“I think you get enough breaks with the internationals,” he said.
“I know why you might have a January break but February’s weather could be as bad, March could be as bad as January.
“I can understand the reasons for it, but I think there are enough reasons against it as well and it will lengthen your season.”