UNLIKELY says RONNIE CULLY

CELTIC recognised they were short up front and tried to sign Steven Fletcher from Hibs, but their £2.5million offer was rejected.

With Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras struggling to find the net, and Scott McDonald not converting enough of his chances, the failings in front of goal are a genuine concern for the club.

However, it would have been unlikely anyone arriving last month would have started scoring straight away, so the onus would have remained on the Big Three.

Their track records confirm they are good enough, and manager Gordon Strachan would be unwilling to swap them for any other front men operating in the Spl.

Between them the three Celtic strikers have found the net 29 times this season. But the majority of these goals were scored in the first half of the campaign and they need to fire to top form once again. POSSIBLY says THOMAS JORDAN

CELTIC could still yet win the championship for the fourth successive season - but they'd have a far better chance of doing it had they signed a new striker in January.

Gordon Strachan identified Steven Fletcher as the man he wanted to lead the line for his side during the second-half of the season but Hibs priced him out of a move to Parkhead by demanding £4m.

That figure, without any shadow of a doubt, was far too much for what Celtic were getting but there must have been other options open to the SPL's richest team.

Aberdeen's Lee Miller is a better option to Vennegoor of Hesselink and there is no pace in the Hoops attack to allow them the option of going over the top and playing in behind defences.

Only time will tell if the guys Strachan has at his disposal will prove good enough - but failing to improve the squad might come back to haunt Celtic if the goals continue to dry up.