Celtic end poor home run in Scottish Premier League by beating St Mirren

Celtic always believed in themselves, defender Charlie Mulgrew said after his side grabbed their first home league win since October with a 2-0 defeat of St Mirren.

The Hoops have excelled in European competition this season, with coach Neil Lennon leading his side to the last 16 of the Champions League for only the third time in their history. However, at the same time as picking up superb home wins against Barcelona and Spartak Moscow, Celtic have lost to Kilmarnock and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Parkhead, while St Johnstone held them to a draw.

Celtic finally put their home hoodoo in the Scottish Premier League to bed with a first-half tap-in from Victor Wanyama and a late strike from Gary Hooper, sealing their first win at Parkhead in the league since their 1-0 victory over Hearts on October 7.

Mulgrew, who set up both goals from corners, admitted it was a relief to get back to winning ways at home following victories at Kilmarnock and Arbroath.

"It was great to get the win at home. St Mirren sat in and made it difficult for us, as many teams have this season, but we managed to get the two goals and should probably have been more," the Scotland international said. "We always had the belief that we could put a run together and we have begun to do that now after another good result."

"The emphasis at home is on us to go and attack, and it can be difficult for us at times, but we managed to do it today and get the result," he added. "A lot was made of it when a couple of homes results did not go our way and people caught on to it. But we always believed we could change that and go on a run."