Filip Benkovic is the best centre-half Celtic have had since Virgil Van Dijk.

They are slightly different players but in terms of sheer quality, I think Benkovic has the potential to play at the same level as the Dutchman. He is a fabulous defender and without question the best we have seen at Celtic for a long time.

So the news that his season is in jeopardy is a massive blow.

Even if the ankle injury is not as serious as it looks at the minute, realistically the earliest he could be back is mid-March – when he would still need time to get up to match fitness – and it is a real setback for Celtic as well as for the boy himself.

I actually thought that Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer did very well on Wednesday night against St Johnstone. They did not have a great deal to do but I thought they were relatively comfortable throughout the 90 minutes, but I don’t think there is any question that Benkovic’s loss is huge, particularly when consideration is given to the upcoming Europa League tie against Valencia.

The timing, too, couldn’t have been worse with the club going into the final days of the window. The bottom line is that they simply have to get on with it now.

On a brighter note, I thought that Scott Brown looked like a man reinvigorated this week.

I don’t know if it is combination of a decent break and a good week’s training in Dubai or the fact that he has settled his mind onto what he wants to do.

That Brown has put all uncertainty to bed over his future I felt played a telling part on the performance he put in the other night. Having committed his future to Celtic he will be in a position now to give his full focus to his game rather than mulling over what comes next.

There were question marks asked when the team was performing well without him in for a sizeable chunk this season. And I think there was cause at times to look at how the team was playing and see whether it was more fluid with or without Brown.

But physically I thought he looked more like the Scott Brown of old against St Johnstone. I do think he looked rejuvenated and I say that having analysed his performance quite closely.

He had fewer touches on the ball than he had been, he played a few good balls through to James Forrest inside the fullback and I thought, in the second period in particular, he dominated possession.

I think it is good news for the club, if he can sustain that level of performance, to have Brown in there. For me he was the man of the match on Wednesday night, albeit that I thought Callum McGregror scored a good goal and had a good game.

But I just thought overall Brown was dominant, less ponderous, sharper. Having come to a decision about his future it is maybe that there is a sense of relief that the call has been made. Even on a sub-conscious level at times it just gives you a bit more freedom to go and just relax a little bit more.

And although people might point to that fact that the level of opposition is one that Celtic would have been expected to beat this month, you have to say that they look as though they are capable of going and kicking on here.

Regardless of how you are playing, you have to win your games. And Celtic have taken full advantage of their glut of home games to go and stretch themselves ahead – and between that and Rangers’ defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park they have minimised the damage of that defeat at Ibrox.

It has taken the wind out of Rangers’ sails while Celtic have been able to get themselves back onto solid ground.

Interestingly, too, it looks as though there has been a statement made with the continuation of Scott Bain in goal. I said last week and I stand by it that I think Craig Gordon is the better of the two goalkeepers but it is not my decision to make.

But you do wonder now whether Bain has the gloves for the foreseeable future.