St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright admits the cash-strapped Perth club cannot afford to follow Celtic to sunnier climes after their January clash was called-off.

The Scottish champions have exercised their right to postpone their Parkhead fixture with Saints scheduled for January 10.

Instead, Hoops boss Ronny Deila will take his team abroad for a mid-winter training camp.

Celtic will have played 35 games by the time the game was due to be played and are likely to still be involved in the Europa League after the turn of the year.

But Wright admits the William Hill Scottish Cup winners will have to stay put while Deila's troops are off sunning themselves.

He said: "I was unaware that this was still available to clubs. But it is in the rules and you can postpone one of your January fixtures.

"It is a busy Christmas period. We have games on the 1st of January, the fourth, the 10th was supposed to be Celtic, then the 17th, the 24th and the 31st. So it will do us no harm having the week off.

"But it's not something we would have looked at doing ourselves. Definitely not. We can't afford to.

"Celtic have the resources and the money to do something like this. It's a nice position to be in.

"I joked with the chairman about us doing something similar but his reply was a two-letter word - not a three."