You have got to be careful when you are in the position of taking a pain-killing injection just to get through a game. It catches up with you.

It says a lot for the skipper that he is wanting to play through it, but I'm sure that once this round of Champions League games are finished, he will be rested.

Neil Lennon has the luxury of a good squad and he has got the balance between coping with the European as well as the domestic games.

I'm sure changes will be made for Saturday's visit of Kilmarnock because there are enough bodies there for Celtic to shake it up a bit because there will be a lot of heavy legs after Barcelona.

Like most, I am certain that Celtic will win the league without too much trouble, but the encouraging thing from Lennon's point of view is that his team are applying themselves accordingly.

At the start of the season I felt that qualifying for Europe was at the forefront of their minds and that showed in some of the league performances, but in recent weeks they have really found their rhythm.

They were excellent against St Mirren last weekend when they scored five goals and there is a strong level of consistency.

It is rare for them to drop the standard that they have set for themselves, and managing to combine the European exertions with the domestic tests is a challenge in itself.

What they have done this season so far in Europe is give the Scottish game a real shot in the arm.

Their performances are able to shape the opinion that outsiders have about the SPL and our game.