Referee and VAR appointments confirmed for St Johnstone vs Celtic

Matthew MacDermid has been appointed as the referee for Celtic’s Scottish Premiership trip to St Johnstone on Wednesday evening.

The Scottish Football Association confirmed the officiating team ahead of the 8pm kick-off at McDiarmid Park, with Grant Irvine taking charge of VAR and Duncan Williams serving as assistant VAR.

Celtic head into the fixture in excellent domestic form, having won all five of their league matches so far. Martin O’Neill’s side have scored 13 goals and conceded just three during their perfect start.

St Johnstone, meanwhile, have made a positive return to the Scottish Premiership following promotion and currently sit seventh with seven points from their first four games.

Simo Valakari’s team began with a victory over Kilmarnock before defeats to St Mirren and Hearts and a draw with Dundee. However, they responded on Sunday with an impressive 2-1 victory over Hibernian.

That result will have boosted confidence within the St Johnstone camp ahead of Celtic’s visit, particularly given their strong home record. The Perth side are yet to suffer a home defeat this season.

Celtic will provide their toughest challenge yet, though, with the visitors arriving unbeaten and boasting a 100 per cent league record.

St Johnstone have shown plenty of attacking intent during the opening weeks of the campaign and will believe they can trouble Celtic if they maintain that approach. However, Celtic’s attacking quality could allow them to exploit the spaces left behind by Valakari’s side.