Robinson: Beating Celtic is not impossible for St Mirren

Stephen Robinson insists it is “not an impossible task” for St Mirren to beat Celtic in Saturday’s Scottish Cup fifth-round tie at Parkhead.

Saints are the only Scottish team to defeat the Hoops this season, with a 2-0 win in Paisley in September, but they also lost 4-0 in the league at Parkhead last month.

The Buddies are also the last domestic side to overcome Celtic in the east end of Glasgow, having secured a 2-1 victory in January 2021, but Robinson will travel to Parkhead believing a cup shock is possible.

“I believe we have players who can cause Celtic problems,” said the Northern Irishman, who will be without defender Richard Tait for between six to eight weeks as he faces groin surgery on Saturday.

“Every manager knows it is a tough task, especially at Celtic Park. They have a lot of talent in the side, play with incredible energy, but we have matched that before.

“We need to be at the top of our game, every single player needs to play at the top of their game. We have done that before so it is certainly not an impossible task.

“A difficult one, yes, but one we have belief in. It is not like we haven’t beaten Celtic before.

“The key things that everyone knows when you play against the top sides are you need to be very organised and defend very well.

“A lot of teams change how they play when they play Celtic and Rangers away but we don’t, we keep it exactly the same so nobody has to do anything new.

“Nobody has to learn different systems, it is something we are well-versed in and we have to do it as well as we did in the home game (against Celtic).”

Tait, 33, has been out since October after going under the knife for an initial groin problem, but had a setback during his rehabilitation and is facing another long spell on the sidelines.

Robinson said: “Richard Tait is having more surgery on Saturday which again is a blow for us. We think we will lose Richard for another six to eight weeks.

“It is not the same issue but it is the same area, it is a groin problem. It is frustrating for Richard, he is a little bit down about it as well, he was on the verge of coming back.

“It is difficult, the mental side of football that everybody doesn’t see, so it is a difficult one for him, but we will be there to try to make sure he gets back as quick as possible.”