CELTIC have several incentives for securing a positive result in Moscow tomorrow night in the Champions League when they face-off against Spartak.

Bringing an end to their horrendous run of just one draw from 18 group stage games over six campaigns; the no small matter of Uefa's performance bonus of half a million Euros for a draw or, if you dare to dream, double that for a win in the Russian capital.

There would also be a huge shot in the arm for a battered and bruised Scottish game if our champions could emerge from Eastern Europe with something given the difference in resources between the SPL's top clubs and the now oil-and-gas-backed cash-rich sides from that part of the world.

But arguably the biggest carrot is that a decent outcome, on top of a hard-earned point in the opener against Benfica last month in Glasgow, would keep alive hopes of getting out of a group with a double header against Barcelona next up.

And after they moved menacingly to the top of the SPL on Saturday with a clinical win over Motherwell at Fir Park, the European scene could well be where the interest lies between now and the turn of the year for those of a Parkhead persuasion.

Unless Celtic land Rangers in the Scottish Communities League Cup on Thursday, there isn't much stoking the domestic fires as the so-called 'contenders' in the SPL race in the absence of their fallen city rivals begin to fall apart already.

Just hours after Marius Zaliukas had claimed Hearts could mount a challenge, they were battered 3-1 at home by Kilmarnock.

Dundee United? They were being pounded in Inverness and have now tumbled to the bottom reaches of a table that makes bleak viewing for the City of Discovery.

As for Aberdeen, they at least ended their run of draws with a home win over Hibs, but as Celtic swept Motherwell aside you were left wondering if this championship may indeed become more of a procession than we all initially thought.

Motherwell have earned huge plaudits under Stuart McCall for their form over the past year or so; but inside a few days they were dumped by Rangers at Ibrox, and then offered no resistence to Celtic.

Just seven games into the new season and already many are asking the question...is Rangers' demise already beginning to have an impact?

There were just 3,059 fans at Inverness, 3,706 at St Mirren, while Aberdeen got just over 8,000 and Hearts a bit shy of 12,000 at the weekend.

And this is all in the early stages of the term. While the debate over Rangers' situation still rages on, the bottom line is that our top flight is seriously devalued.

This summer has rendered two of our four senior leagues as foregone conclusions. The very essence of sport is competition, drama, unpredictably and excitement.

And while those components will still be thrown up, the SPL is already looking like a dead duck.