Nikola Katic has admitted that Celtic have been ruthless in the chase for the SPFL title.
At the end of December the Croatian defender was the hero of the Glasgow derby, heading the winner for Steven Gerrard’s side to cut the gap at the top of the table to just two points.
The first weeks of 2020 were dominated by chat about a title race that could go the distance with the two Glasgow clubs sweeping aside the other 10 teams in the top flight.
Since the SPFL resumed at the end of January Gerrard’s side have shipped points against Hearts, Hamilton and Kilmarnock; allowing Celtic to stretch their lead to 13 points with just eight matches left to play.
Covering a report from Croatia The Sun reports Katic saying:
The end of last year was really top notch for us. We were two points behind Celtic with a game in hand. We won at Celtic Park and everything was great but after that we got ourselves into a crisis and we have been tormented by it.
Before then, when we played at home we were scoring five or six goals. After that, we started scoring fewer goals and we made mistakes in our away games – losing to Hearts and Kilmarnock 2-1 despite leading in both of them.
Celtic, on the other hand, were really ruthless since the winter break. They played superbly and so they got away from us. We were in a good situation and so it’s shame we lost it.
But once the league restarts, we don’t know what the other teams will be like, but we believe because we have a game in hand and have still to play Celtic twice that it is not over yet. Yes, 13 points sounds a lot, but I think we can still get into it
When the remaining fixtures are played remains the big question with Gordon Scott of St Mirren and Motherwell chief Alan Burrows admitting that it is looking increasingly unlikely that the current season will be completed on resumption.