THE winds of change which many claim is blowing through Scottish football was felt both in this country and in the Canary Islands over the weekend.

While Aberdeen were mastering the blustery conditions in Paisley to blow away a struggling St Mirren side and go four points clear again in the SPFL, Celtic found their opening match in the Maspalomas Cup in Gran Canaria anything but a breeze.

With the infamous windy conditions on the holiday island contributing to a hard and bumpy pitch, which posed as many problems as PSV Eindhoven, Ronny Deila's side lost 1-0 to a first-half goal scored by the exotically-named, Memphis Depay.

Tonight, Hamilton and Dundee United meet at New Douglas Park, both also intent on following the lead of Aberdeen and Inverness in capitalising on Celtic's decision to postpone their scheduled game against St Johnstone and making this title race even more congested.

Deila and his squad are following events back home very closely.

After they fulfil their commitments in Gran Canaria with tomorrow afternoon's match against Sparta Prague, they will return to Glasgow recharged and ready to resume the battle to retain the crown they have held for the past three seasons.

Delia will have his fingers crossed they do not suffer any more casualties while under friendly fire.

Skipper Scott Brown is sporting several stitches in the forehead cut sustained when he stumbled onto the knee of an opponent after just two minutes of playing on the tricky surface in the Maspalomas Municipal Stadium.

John Guidetti is also expected to miss tomorrow's game after limping out of Saturday's action with a thigh injury picked up when he tackled a PSV defender near the end of what had been a frustrating game for the out-of-sorts striker.

Nir Bitton will also be monitored after he, too, had to come off early nursing a knock, which is not considered serious.

With so many massive games awaiting the Hoops on their return later this week, Deila will not take any chances with this trio.

He is expected to make full use of his squad, as he did at the weekend when teenagers Liam Henderson, Aiden Nesbitt, Joe Thomson and Jamie Lindsay all saw some action.

With the heavy schedule the Hoops face in four competitions, Deila knows he will have to make a habit of utilising his resources to the maximum, and any experience gained at this point could prove invaluable.

But, of course, it will be the old heads he will lean on most.

And, even though keeper Craig Gordon is chasing his first-ever championship medal, his calming influence could be an ace in Deila's pack in the coming months.

Having sat out Saturday's game to ensure his previous knee problems were not put at any risk in the difficult conditions, Gordon was able to cast a critical eye over Lukasz Zaluska and the rest of his team-mates as he provided analysis for Celtic TV.

He believes they were on a steep learning curve and said: "PSV played in a typically Dutch way, 4-3-3, with two full backs bombing on, two centre backs looking to get on the ball at the back and two wide midfield players playing pretty much as forwards.

"It's difficult to play against because they get a lot of people into forward areas.

"But it's a nice, different test because we don't get that back home playing in the SPL.

"It's something we have to get used to for playing European matches, especially with the Inter Milan games to come.

"It will stand us in good stead having an idea how teams like that play."

While he enjoyed his stint behind the microphone, the 32-year-old has been more interested in what is happening back here, and refuses to be panicked by Aberdeen's eighth straight SPFL victory and clean sheet.

He said: "We will see what the situation is in the league when we get back and assess it then.

"We still have a lot of games between now and the end of the season, so it's up to us to put together a run like the one we had been on.

"If we do that, it will put the pressure on the other teams."

Gordon acknowledges how important it was to win at Rugby Park before heading to Gran Canaria, having drawn with Ross County and lost to Dundee United in their two previous outings.

The blip brought to a halt a run of eight straight league wins, which had been good enough to put them in No.1 spot for the first time this season.

That was Celtic's response to the shock of losing at home to Hamilton, a defeat which sent Accies to the top of the table and left the Hoops floundering in sixth position.

Hamilton - under new management - will provide the welcome reception for Celtic when they come back to Scotland, Saturday's game made all the more intriguing as it will be played on the artificial pitch at New Douglas Park.

This does not faze Gordon as he believes Celtic showed on the plastic at Rugby Park that this kind of surface suits the way they want to play - certainly far more than the bumpy grass conditions they are enduring in Gran Canaria.

The Hoops completely dominated the game against Killie with their possession and quick passing, and Gordon said: "It wasn't too bad to play on.

"I got one small burn on my knee, but I thought it played very well.

"The ball rolled pretty good. It probably helped that it rained just before the game which made the surface very slick and good for passing the ball around.

"If it was bit drier, it might then make it a bit more bobbly and the ball spins forward a bit more.

"That's what tends to happen on artificial pitches."