Alan Cochrane @ Celtic Park

Call-offs before the game and injuries during it gave Kilmarnock what looked like makeshift shape, but it was a shape which silenced a huge Celtic support, and brought a well-deserved point back down the M77. Jim Jefferies was rightly proud of all his players here today. They included the young players like Jamie Hamill and Ryan O'Leary, and the more experienced like Allan Johnston and Simon Ford (who for me was man-of-the-match), but special mention must be made of Steven Naismith. After the summer of speculation, when the young man was no doubt getting all sorts of advice from all sorts of people, he proved what his manager has said all along. By working and running and harrying from first whistle to last, he didn't give Celtic a moment of peace, and showed that the mental turmoil he must have gone through had not affected his training, preparation or attitude.

In fact, every player in canary yellow had that same attitude, and when injuries came, and they did, replacements came on and continued in exactly the same vein. Celtic unveiled last season's league championship flag before the start, and started the game as if to sew up this season's as quickly as possible. Paul Hartley shot over within the first minute, and not long after, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink squared across goal when he was trying to hit the target, but Killie then settled to tie up the hooped marauders. Vennegoor continued to be a handful with his strength, speed and power, but Ford and Wright grappled with him all afternoon, and along with Lilley and O'Leary, managed to put the shackles on most of Celtic's efforts.

As Kilmarnock fought back into the game, Naismith put a through ball to Johnston but the veteran was beaten for pace, then Naismith himself had a pop, which squirted wide. Celtic new boy Scott Brown shot wide following a free kick on the right, and Combe had a good save from Zurawski after Fowler went down injured. The Killie midfielder was in fact stretchered off with what looked like a bad ankle injury, and was taken to hospital with a suspected fracture. With 15 minutes of the first half left, Rhian Dodds came on as a straight replacement, but the play became disjointed until the interval, after Fowler's injury.

Just after the break, Garry Hay pulled up with a hamstring problem, and Willie Gibson came on the replace the skipper, who had been playing left mid-field. The longer the game went on, the more Killie became a potent attacking force, and Lilley was unlucky to head over from a looping Nish cut-back. With the Glasgow east-end faithful becoming more and more restive, Gordon Strachan threw on Killen and Nakamura for Donati and Zurawski, but it was Nish at the other end who got in front of Mark Brown in the Celtic goal to meet a Willie Gibson cross, but the big centre got too much of it and the ball looped over the bar. In overtime, Alan Combe had to fingertip a Scott Brown header over the bar, but a late home winner would have been tough on the visitors. Right at the end, David Fernandez, who had come on for the last 10 minutes, took an accidental elbow on the eye, which caused a lot of pain and bleeding, and he too was stretchered off, spoiling what had been a welcome return after his long injury absence since last year.

Facing the media at the end, Gordon Strachan was quick to praise the visitors, because he thought his team played well today, but Killie were strong and quick, and the longer the game went, the better it was for Kilmarnock. Jim Jefferies was delighted not only with getting a draw at Celtic Park, but in the manner in which it was achieved. With key players like Hay and Fowler getting injured, Invincibile not available and Locke and Wales calling off before the game, this was a good result, tempered by what could be two serious injuries. The defence was rock-solid, the mid-field outstanding, and the forwards always dangerous. Better than the opening game last year.

Celtic: Brown, Kennedy, Naylor, Wilson, McManus, Brown, Hartley, Donati (Killen), McGeady, Zurawski (Nakamura), Vennegoor of Hesselink

Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler (Dodds), Hay (Gibson), Lilley, Wright, Ford, Naismith, Nish, Johnston (Fernandez), O'Leary, Hamill

Referee: Craig Thomson