Stephen Robinson braces himself for St Mirren test against Celtic

Stephen Robinson is bracing himself for St Mirren’s biggest test of the season so far against Celtic on Sunday.

The Buddies got past Icelandic side Valur in their first Conference League qualifiers but came unstuck in the next round when they faced Norwegian outfit SK Brann, who beat them 4-2 on aggregate.

The Paisley side also went out of the Premier Sports Cup to Dundee United last weekend after a previous league win over Hibernian and a defeat to Aberdeen and now get ready to take on the Scottish champions, who are unbeaten in the first three games this season.

The Buddies boss said: “Brann were an excellent team, very similar styles of football (to Celtic).

“Celtic have proved over time that they’re a really tough opposition with real quality.

“They started the season as always, really well and have a fantastic manager in Brendan Rodgers. So we know what the task is. We know how we have to play to get a result.

“We’ve got results, we’ve played very, very well and we’ve taken Celtic all the way on lots of different occasions, and little bits of indecision or tiredness or maybe just sheer quality, in the end, have undone us.

“But we want to make a really good game of it. We believe we are a match for anybody at home and we go in with a large amount of confidence.”

Celtic have started the season in formidable form – having scored nine goals and conceded only one – but the Northern Irishman does not believe that Rodgers’ side have stepped up a level.

He said: “They’re always at a level. The big teams are always on a level.

“They recruit well, they have a lot of money to spend and they bring in a lot of good players and that’s always the task you face.

“But it’s what you’re in football for. You want to face a good Celtic side, a good Rangers side and challenge yourself.

“It’ll be a challenge for us, as it always is.

“But have they started any better than they usually do? I think they have just started as they always do.”