CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN STRUGGLES WITH PHYSICAL STRIKER AGAIN

The cocktail of a physical striker and an artificial pitch is certainly one that isn’t to Jullien’s taste, with Nicke Kabamba causing him the same sort of problems here that Lyndon Dykes of Livingston did last season.

The centre-back looked flustered right from the off by Kabamba’s presence, and his uncertainty came to a head as he pulled the Killie striker back to give away a first-half penalty.

He let the striker get away from him again soon after and was lucky his block on the eventual shot didn’t have enough power to carry it over the line.

He settled a little after the break, but by then, the damage was done.

VASILIS BARKAS LOOKED ASSURED ON CELTIC DEBUT

Despite a bright start from Kilmarnock, a goal-kick and a pass or two was the sum of the workload for the opening 20 minutes of Barkas’s early Celtic career, until Jullien’s moment of slackness saw him beaten from the penalty spot.

Other than that, he looked neat and tidy, commanding his area well and collecting cross balls with the minimum of fuss. Killie didn’t test his shot-stopping ability, but it was a decent enough debut from the Greek international.

CHRIS BURKE STILL HAS PLENTY OF LIFE LEFT IN HIM

He may be 36 now, but the winger looked as good as ever as he linked up with Ross Millen superbly on the Kilmarnock right to cause Celtic all sorts of problems.

Still in possession of a decent turn of pace, it is Burke’s intelligence, touch and delivery that give defenders nightmares even now in the twilight of his career.

As long as Killie have him supplying the ammunition and Kabamba as a target, they should do just fine.