Scottish League/Celtic 2 St Mirren 0: Celtic's Japanese playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura has added his words of encouragement to those of the manager Gordon Strachan for the striker Kenny Miller, who has now started in 11 matches for the club without scoring.
Miller, the former Rangers player who returned north from Wolves in the summer, has been instantly accepted by Celtic supporters.
However, given the Scotland international's abject run of form, some are starting to question his role in the side.
"Kenny is beginning to fit into the team," said Nakamura.
"It is only the beginning of the season. When I came here last year, it took me about six game to settle in. He does not look low in confidence, and is scoring lots of goals in training."
One factor which may allow Miller to play through this drought is that Strachan has been unable to sign the extra striker he feels necessary to bolster his squad. Miller also has his manager's unequivocal support.
Despite Miller missing a gilt-edged chance in the second half, Strachan said: "I have no doubt Kenny will start to score goals. Michael Owen goes through the same sort of spell every two years, then he comes back and starts banging the goals in again."
Stuttgart's Daniel Ljubola is Strachan's latest target, and Celtic's chief executive Peter Lawwell is expected in Germany this week to initiate talks over the €2.2m-rated Serbian forward.
Despite Miller's poor form Celtic enjoyed a comfortable afternoon against newly-promoted St Mirren who, with maximum points from their opening two games, had arrived in Glasgow at the top of the table for the first time since 1980.
Stephen McManus, captain in the absence of the injured Neil Lennon, headed a Nakamura corner past Chris Smith for the opening goal in the 28th minute before Stilian Petrov sealed victory with a close-range finish in the second half.
Whether Petrov is in the squad at Inverness next Sunday remains to be seen, with Aston Villa's manager Martin O'Neill likely to submit a bid for the unsettled Bulgarian. The loss of Petrov would be keenly felt by Strachan, but the manager understandably wanted to accentuate positives in a victory achieved three days after playing a friendly at Chelsea.
"The important thing was to win," he said.
CELTIC: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Wallace (Pearson 56), Nakamura, Petrov, Jarosik, McGeady, Miller, Zurawski (Beattie 74). Subs Not Used: Marshall, Sno, Riordan, Thompson, Varga. Booked: Petrov. Goals: McManus 28, Petrov 65.
ST MIRREN: Chris Smith, van Zanten, Broadfoot, Potter, Millen, Murray, Brady (Brittain 77), Lappin, Molloy (McKenna 82), Kean (Mehmet 69), Sutton. Subs Not Used: Bullock, Corcoran, Maxwell, McCay. Booked: Murray. Att: 56,579
Referee: B Winter (Scotland).
