Celtic's struggle 'great' for SPFL as Hoops eye Premier League star

Latest news from Hibs and Hearts Scottish Premiership rivals

It's just one more match until Christmas Day with many hoping their festive presents will come early as Hibs and Hearts battle to remain in the top six. Hearts currently sit third, following a brilliant display against a now-struggling Celtic last weekend while Hibs are in sixth place after losing to St Johnstone.

The Jambos will now take on St Mirren at Tynecastle, hopeful of securing their placing in the league but will come up against a side equally praying to jump back up into the European Conference League spot.

Hibs, on the other hand, will take on Ross County as they look to improve on two recent defeats. With this the final match before the second Edinburgh derby of the year, both Steven Naismith and Nick Montgomery will hope their side's performances anchor the much needed confidence that will be required before Easter Road next week.

Ahead of the festive period, here is the latest news from the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic's form 'great' for league

Livingston manager David Martindale believes Celtic's recent stutter is positive for Scottish football, even if it does make his job harder when the sides meet on Saturday (The Sun).

Back-to-back defeats to Kilmarnock and Hearts as well as dropping points at home to Motherwell has opened the door for Rangers to get back involved in the title race. The SPFL now has a far more interesting race for the trophy with and while Martindale is aware Celtic will respond heavily against Livingston this weekend, he does still believe that suits everyone.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Martindale said: "I think you’re always going to go through that after a period of success. Is it not kind of a cycle? Look at Giovanni van Bronckhorst, he got to the Europa League final and he was sacked six months later. That’s just elite sport.

"What I would say on Rangers’ form and Celtic’s form, there’s probably a genuine title race now this season. It’s good for the league"

Celtic eye Premier League star

Celtic have reportedly 'made contact' with Wolves about signing their striker Fabio Silva (Glasgow Times). Football Scotland reported that the "Hoops have been in touch with the Premier League side regarding the forward."

Silva joined Molineux in summer 2022 before going out on loan to Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven. He has played ten times for Wolves this season and has scored once in the League Cup.

With the Asian Cup on the horizon, Brendan Rodgers is keen to add a striker to his squad with Kyogo Furuhashi and Oh Hyeon-gyu likely to be called up for Japan and South Korea respectively.

Rangers chief 'active' with ECA

Rangers' chief executive James Bisgrove is said to be 'active' with the European Club Association following the reignition of the Super League. (Daily Mail via Ibrox News).

The online news outlet reported that the chief has been involved with the UEFA-backed association but there has been no official club statement of yet. Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack was quick to suggest that both Rangers and Celtic would be open to a breakaway to the Super League but the latter have already rejected the idea, with the hope that the former will be right behind them.

While many clubs across Europe have already rejected the Super League plans, for a second time, through club statements, there is still a wait for Rangers to post theirs.