INTRIGUE, as much as excitement, permeates the Celtic support ahead of Monday's Premiership resumption.

With four new signings through the doors at Lennoxtown and big players on the verge of returning from injury, suddenly squad selection is looking more like sculpting fine art rather than Ange Postecoglou welding all available materials together with cardboard and a Pritt stick.

With Shaun Maloney's first trip back to Parkhead as a manager there is another thread to the whole evening but primarily the concern for fans will be three points and an opportunity to see some new Celts in the flesh.

Here's a closer look at three themes running through Monday's match...

Kicking off in style is important

Celtic are on a 17-game unbeaten run domestically (14 wins). Their only defeat at all since October 3 was the 3-2 away loss to Leverkusen in the Europa League.

In many ways, despite the obvious benefits of an early winter break, the pause could be argued to have disrupted the Hoops' momentum.

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Top of their agenda when Hibs come to town must be to dismiss any such notion.

As always with Postecoglou, he will no doubt be looking at a picture that is rather bigger than just the visiting Leith side. Primarily, that includes the manner in which his men start the 'business end' of the season.

The best way to do that is with a dominant, powerful performance with plenty of goals but, of course, any win will do when you are six points behind at the top.

How many new signings will we see?

My money is on two, from the start anyway. In the presumed absence of Kyogo and Jota, the stage is surely set for Daizen Maeda to come straight into the forward line.

The 24-year-old is fresh from a J1 League top scorer award and could form a frighteningly versatile front three with James Forrest and Liel Abada to test Maloney's managerial resolve at its genesis.

Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate both reportedly started a closed-doors friendly against St Mirren at the tail end of the week but it feels unlikely both will begin against the Hibees with the presence of Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic to consider.

Celtic Way:

One will, though, and with five substitutes allowed again it's probable the other gets their debut anyway. 

As for the club's fourth winter signing, 18-year-old striker Johnny Kenny, it is unclear as yet whether he'll go straight into the first-team fold or used by the B team first.

Much, you imagine, will depend on the fitness situations of Giorgos Giakoumakis and Albian Ajeti while Joey Dawson has found the net for the B side after returning to Tommy McIntyre's team in the aftermath of his debut first-team appearance before the new year. 

Five subs can help straight away

“It makes sense that five subs gives every club, irrespective of the strength in the squad, the opportunity to not overburden the core group of players," Postecoglou said on Thursday night. 

“We went through that in the first half of the season. It’s not just happening in this league, but if you look around the world, injury rates are going up because of the demands put on players.

“And obviously with Covid still being around and still being a factor, I think it makes sense that we go back to the five subs and give every club the opportunity to look after their players.”

That is all true; player welfare is undoubtedly paramount in the decision to re-introduce the five subs rule.

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The advantage, however, that being able to make five subs grants to clubs with deeper squads is still one worth pointing out.

For Celtic, the additional strength in depth provided by their January transfer business means not only more game-changing options on the bench on any given day but also additional chances to utilise them too.

While the Hibs match might come too soon for a clutch of injured key players, matchday squads in the weeks to come could well contain names such as Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda, Mikey Johnston, Anthony Ralston and David Turnbull on the bench as genuine game-changing options. Not bad if you ask me.

Celtic v Hibs kicks off at 7.45pm on Monday January. The match is live on Celtic TV. Remember to check The Celtic Way afterwards for detailed man-by-man ratings, quality reaction and statistical anaylsis