Scottish Premiership things to watch this weekend

The Scottish Premiership resumes after a heartening international break for Steve Clarke's side.

There's a top-of-the-table Edinburgh derby to look forward to on Sunday, with five games on Saturday.

Here are a selection of things to look out for...

Chance for new Celtic recruits to impress

With two league defeats already, Celtic cannot afford to lose any more ground.

The 1-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox was the first time they have failed to score under Ange Postecoglou, who has since added Giorgos Giakoumakis and Jota to his forward options, while losing Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Leigh Griffiths.

Neither of the new arrivals has played at all this season but they may well be on show at some stage since Kyogo Furuhashi has picked up an injury while with Japan and James Forrest missed Scotland's triple-header. It could also be a chance for Albian Ajeti, who hasn't started a match since February, to show what he can do.

Having won both his home games in the Premiership by a 6-0 margin, Postecoglou is sure to revert to his unrelenting attacking style after coming unstuck in the derby and his side will be expected to dominate possession.

Ross County beat Celtic twice last season, winning 2-0 in Glasgow for a major League Cup upset, while Jordan White scored the only goal in the last league meeting in Dingwall.

Malky Mackay's side are still seeking a first Premiership win of the season after a goalkeeping error gifted Aberdeen a late equaliser at Pittodrie but that showing, along with scoring twice against Rangers in the previous match, suggest the new manager is making progress.

Aberdeen must be wary of Watt

Aberdeen are yet to lose in the Premiership this season, yet early signs of promise have fallen somewhat flat after a League Cup exit at Raith Rovers, a chastening home defeat in the Europa Conference League play-off, and dropped points against Ross County at Pittodrie last time out.

Motherwell, on the other hand, were looking like a team in trouble when a meek League Cup loss at Dens Park followed a league haul of one point from their first two outings, but they are now in a position to leapfrog the visitors after back-to-back wins over Livingston and Dundee.

However, Aberdeen have only lost two of their last 11 league visits to Motherwell (W7 D2).

Both managers were very busy over the summer, each making a new team's worth of signings, so there will be ups and downs as players settle.

It was rumoured that Tony Watt was on the way out at Fir Park but the striker has scored in each of his last three league games, matching his Premiership tally for the whole of last season.

Declan Gallagher will be the man trying to keep Watt in check but the former Motherwell captain has yet to register a clean sheet in his nine games for Aberdeen.

Boyce v Boyle in top-of-the-table derby

An Edinburgh derby is always a big deal. Add to the mix that the city rivals are undefeated, level on points at the top of the table, and haven't met in the league since March 2020 - and the stakes get even higher.

Hibernian finished third last season, while Hearts were strolling to the Championship title but their paths did cross when the Tynecastle side prevailed in a delayed Scottish Cup semi-final.

Hearts also enjoyed two wins at Easter Road in their otherwise dreadful 2019-20 campaign.

Hibs' record in Gorgie is not great but they travel across town looking to make it three successive away victories for the first time.

Martin Boyle scored both goals in a Boxing Day 2019 victory and the winger is in red hot form this term, netting in each league outing so far, with seven goals for his club in all competitions and one for Australia.

Hibs fans will have been mightily relieved to hear manager Jack Ross say his omission from the Socceroos' match against Vietnam was "precautionary".

Liam Boyce is level with Boyle for domestic goals and crashed in the extra-time penalty winner for Hearts at Hampden when the teams last met.

And Gary Mackay-Steven, who grew up in Thurso with a fond spot for Hibs, has a habit of hurting his childhood heroes, scoring six against them in his two seasons at Aberdeen.