SCOTT McDONALD has never been slow on the draw when it comes to shooting from the lip.

Even when the Celtic hotshot was firing blanks, he could pick off a target with a sniper's accuracy and discharge both barrels if something incurred his displeasure.

Now that he has reset his sights on goal - he blasted his way to the top of the club's scoring charts in the process with his 14th and 15th goals of the season at Rugby Park on Wednesday - Oz can be expected to be even more voluble than usual.

That's fine by Celtic boss Gordon Strachan, who knows that the more of a bang McDonald is making in the scoring charts, the better chance they have of retaining the SPL crown they have worn for the last three years.

He has to score another 16 goals to match the 31 he blasted home in his debut season. And there is little doubt McDonald has not enjoyed trailing Georgios Samaras in the battle to be top gun.

It's not an ego thing, just an insight into the mindset of the striker who has embraced the challenge of being Celtic's striker and believes it is his duty to be getting the goals.

Strachan now anticipates a positive reaction from the ebullient Australian, which could be bad news for St Mirren, who are back in the firing line tomorrow.

The Hoops boss said: "I think being our top scorer again will give Scott a boost.

"Earlier in the season he found it hard to deal with pressure of being a Celtic star who is not at the top of his game.

"He's got over that and it's not a problem now. I knew he would eventually. But we now need Jan, Sami and Ben to come to the fore and give him a hand."

That call to arms for Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras and Hutchinson is an indication Strachan is not prepared to rely on McDonald's goals keeping them in the trophy hunt.

The Dutchman was suspended for the win at Kilmarnock on Wednesday, and some will attest that, figuratively, he has been on the sidelines for most of this season.

Samaras's glory start to the campaign when he knocked home 10 goals in 11 games is also something of a fading memory, while Hutchinson has yet to convince everyone his scoring form in the reserves can be transferred to the first team.

The reassuring thing for Strachan is that the chances are at least being created once again, and he is confident this in turn will fire up his front men for a final flourish.

The conversion rate from the weekend, when seven goals were scored against St Mirren from around a dozen decent opportunities, was not maintained at Rugby Park.

Strachan argues, however, that this was due mainly to the form of Killie keeper Alan Combe who refused to be beaten by anything other than McDonald's two excellent efforts.

"He played well, and one of them was a great save," said Strachan, his special praise being reserved for the reaction block of Aiden McGeady's first-half shot which would have put Celtic 2-0 up and on easy street.

Strachan has always contended that returning to basics - providing a solid base at the back, retaining possession, passing accurately, supporting team-mates and creating scoring opportunities - would get them back on track after their poor start to 2009.

The rewards for doing this are now being reaped, and, he hopes, they will continue to bear fruit -and trophies.

Strachan said: "The momentum of the last couple of games will, hopefully, help us go into these next few important games."

However, he knows the corner has not been turned completely and warns that danger lurks beyond every bend, including the one at New St Mirren Park.

While most fans anticipate an easy passage to the Scottish Cup semi-finals, in which Celtic line up against the team they thrashed last Saturday, the manager is flashing caution signs.

"The worst thing that could have happened to us going into a cup-tie against a side like St Mirren is having beaten them 7-0 just a few days before," said Strachan.

"Trust me on that. We've dented the pride of their players, and we can anticipate a reaction.

"But they will have watched us on Wednesday night at Kilmarnock and will know, just as we do, that if you take chances when playing against us we can now score goals again."

The confidence has risen along with the goals tally, and sitting atop the SPL as the league race marks time to allow for the Scottish Cup quarter-finals and Co-operative Insurance League Cup Final has added an extra skip in the step of everyone at the club.

The challenge for the manager is to ensure the focus stays within the parameters of what they can do, not what others might or might not achieve.

And he found it reassuring that, while the club's fans clearly had one ear on what was happening at Ibrox on Wednesday, the players were concentrating only on their own game.

He revealed: "The lads knew how important it was to get two wins on the trot for the first time since December, and how hard they had had to work at Rugby Park.

"There were a few of the players punching the air at the end, but that was because they were so pleased to have won a game which had been in their grasp and might have slipped.

"None of them knew the score at Ibrox. That news did not reach them until they were well inside the dressing room. Their delight was at their own performance."

Now their fate is in their own hands. Win every remaining game and a Treble will be theirs.

Strachan has been down this road often enough to avoid looking so far ahead and said: "There will twists and turns.

"There will be games which go down to the last minute with the score 0-0 and a shot hits the bar or someone scores. You will just have to deal with that."

Having McDonald back in form should make doing that much less stressful.