THE Celtic juggernaut is picking up pace - and points -and continues to provide irrefutable evidence that it is going to take a lot to knock them off course as they drive towards another title.

The narrow margin of their victory over Partick Thistle was no indicator of the extra horsepower they enjoyed over their city rivals.

In the end, the scoreline shows there was only a Virgil Van Dijk goal between the pair.

But, in truth, there was the length of London Road.

The Hoops have now chalked up six league wins on the trot since the shock home defeat to Hamilton two months ago.

It's a run which looked well beyond Celtic's capabilities in the first few months of the campaign when they took just 11 points from their first half dozen games.

That inconsistency gave credence to the previously unimaginable prospect that they might not make it four championships in a row.

Of course, the title is still not a certainty for them.

But, having finally put three points of daylight between themselves and the chasing pack for the first time since they lifted the trophy in May, the clever money will be on them opening the gap further over the next two months.

That will be made easier for them by the fact they won't have to spread their focus between the league and the three cup competitions in which they are competing.

Next week's Europa League tie in Croatia against Dinamo Zagreb is a dead rubber, Celtic having already qualified for the last 32 and unable to catch Red Bull Salzburg for top spot in Group D.

Their League Cup semi-final against Rangers is not until February 1, the Scottish Cup fifth-round tie against Dundee will be the following weekend and 10 days later comes the first leg of their Europa League knockout round.

Between now and that hat-trick of vital cup ties the Hoops have nine SPFL matches.

Their aim will be to have completely burned off anyone harbouring thoughts of taking their title by the time January is out.

The sun-drenched training camp in Gran Canaria they will head to after the match against Kilmarnock a month tomorrow will be used to give them the chance to grab their second wind before plunging into what will be the defining weeks of their season.

Until then, Celtic will have to generate their own warm glow, as they did last night with their victory over Thistle, even if the football was not of the sunshine variety.

They made heavy weather of it before getting their noses in front on the hour mark.

As is becoming his custom, Van Dijk took it upon himself to get an all-important goal.

The giant Dutch defender challenged Partick defender Aaron Muirhead in the air as a Stefan Johansen free-kick sailed into the penalty box.

The ball then got trapped between their bodies, but Van Dijk reacted quickest to slam a volley past helpless Thistle keeper Paul Gallacher.

HOW the Hoops stopper's striking team-mates could have done with a fraction of his composure and accuracy. The fact they didn't have it on the night explains why, despite carving out a plethora of decent chances, the scores were level to that point.

John Guidetti - a hat-trick hero for Celtic the last time the clubs met, in the League Cup in October - summed up the frustration of the home side and their supporters, spread out though the faithful in the stands were.

The Swede had gone into the game in such a rich vein of scoring form but proved he is fallible when he headed over and shot wide with his best two opportunities in the first half.

Van Dijk had a long-range effort pushed wide by veteran goalie Gallacher and then saw another bounce just over.

The defender also set up Johansen with a 60-yard pass, but the Norwegian - who appeared to be labouring from an early knock - took a touch when he should have shot first time. That allowed Gallacher to get into position to palm his drive to safety.

Aleksandar Tonev - playing, perhaps, his last game until the middle of next month, depending on how his appeal goes today - was another Celt to see Gallacher turn away a stinging shot. The Bulgarian winger was lively and seemed eager to make headlines for the right reasons but passed up an even better chance to make his mark shortly after the interval when Van Dijk split the Jags defence to play him in.

Tonev's wild shot flew wide, and with it his chance to score his first goal for the club.

A more glaring miss was committed by Anthony Stokes following some bizarre defending by the Jags and desperate goalkeeping.

With Gallacher stranded on the edge of his area, Guidetti and Scott Brown both passed up the opportunity to shoot, but they eventually moved the ball to Stokes, who failed to hit the keeper-less target.

NOT that the flow of chances was exclusively in the one direction. At the other end, Craig Gordon had been forced to smother a driven cross from the Partick full back Stephen O'Donnell before James Craigen could poke it home.

The Celtic keeper was then relieved to see a header from Abdul Osman skim the roof of his net when he connected with a whipped-in free-kick from Kallum Higginbotham.

But Gordon saved his best for near the end when he showed all his powers of concentration and agility to keep out a spectacular effort from Kris Doolan.

Thistle were well drilled at the back and showed speed in their counter-attacks, which ensured that Celtic had to work hard for their win.

With Charlie Mulgrew struggling in his return to the side after a rib injury, the visitors exposed the Hoops' back line too often for Ronny Deila's comfort, hence his decision to replace the Scotland midfielder with Nir Bitton at the break.

This helped give more solidity to the Hoops, but, nevertheless, the relief was tangible when Van Dijk eventually made their superiority pay.

The double introduction of Kris Commons and the Serbian striker Stefan Scepovic for Tonev and Guidetti with 18 minutes remaining was designed to give them much-needed game time and give Thistle something different to think about in terms of Celtic's attacking play.

Within a minute, contract-seeking Commons should have made the game completely safe, but saw his close-range shot blocked by the right foot of the defiant Gallacher.

It contributed to a profligacy which must be of concern to Deila, who wants to see his side follow up goals with more goals to keep the Hoops supporters entertained and attached.

Most of all, however, Celtic's manager wants them to keep this winning run going.