Celtic had to come from behind and play the last quarter of an hour without Jack Tinning, but took the tree points to keep in the play-off spots.

Stafford had come to defend and hit Celtic on the break, and that’s what they did. Celtic worked chance after chance, unable find the killer ball. Liam Tongue came close, but for the body of Jadel Musanhu on the line, while Ruben Jerome and Max Leonard were off target, forced to shoot from outside the box. Andy Scarisbrick tried from within the six yard box, turning in a low cross at the near post, but Aaron Davies got down well to smother. Jerome found the target, but though the Stafford keeper, blocked the shot, Davies didn’t know much about it. Everybody was peppering Stafford’s box, with Jack Tinning trying his luck from thirty-five yards. Every set piece, Stafford looked for a chance of their own, Charlie Monks saving well from Kaimon Anderson’s diagonal shot after a free kick found him out wide. That had been a warning, and right before halftime Stafford got another set piece in a dangerous area, Celtic didn’t clear it and Jadel Musanhu prodded the ball through a crowd to open the scoring.

Celtic needed a great start to the second half, and they got it. Scarisbrick found Ellis Horan in the middle of the park, he ran into space and unleashed a rocket straight into the top corner to equalise. Moments later and a corner kick saw Jerome prevent the clearance, the ball coming over the Aaron Chalmers, who smashed Celtic into the lead from six yards. Horan and Tongue nearly made it safe, with Davies looking shaky, but then a Jack Tinning challenge at the edge of the box, and he saw red. Not the last man, not a reckless challenge. Jack Byrne stepped into the defensive hole, and despite late pressure from an increasingly desperate Stafford, Celtic hung on for a massive three points.