Celtic have struggled to keep themselves within touching distance of rivals Rangers at the top of the Premiership table.

The Ibrox men are 18 points clear as runaway leaders with Celts having lost three games and drawn seven in a dismal season by their standards.

Neil Lennon's men have been consistently inconsistent this term and even some of their victories have been unconvincing. But the Northern Irishman will be chuffed to see his players winning their last four in the league to build some sort of momentum as they head into the business end of the campaign.

A 2-1 win over St Johnstone last weekend was secured by an Odsonne Edouard brace and a decent defensive display, perhaps an aspect of Celtic's season that has been lacking in recent months. But which Hoops stars deserve the plaudits for the win? Who may have done more for their side?

Here at Celtic Stock Market, our Glasgow Times Sport writers will take you through whose stock has risen and whose has dropped every week as the Hoops chase their rivals and the title.

UP

1. Odsonne Edouard

The striker bailed his teammates out again with a slick double at McDiarmid Park, as he so often does. His first a very clever toe-poke into the top corner and his second a close-range drive after patience inside the area. It was his 19th and 20th goals of the season and he becomes the first player to notch 20 in three consecutive seasons since Gary Hooper. Edouard's stock continues to rise as does his price tag.

2. Greg Taylor

Celtic's left-back took a bit of stick last weekend from St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin who accused him of going down too easily to win his side a penalty kick last week. Luckily for the Hoops, the criticism did not seem to throw him off his game and he provided the winning assist for Edouard to slot home after some forward thinking full-back play.

The Scotland cap has had his attacking ability questioned since joining up at Parkhead but it certainly could not be criticised on Sunday. He was a willing runner and galloped forward on a number of occasions. He also made it to the byline a handful of times to cross which has not been a massive part of his game until recently. Whatever he has been working on, it seems to be paying off.

3. Shane Duffy

When you're as low as Duffy has been this season at times, the only way to go is up. And a convincing performance against St Johnstone was just what the doctor ordered for the big man. He won his headers, he won his one-on-one battles and he seemed to be happy to get back to what brought him to the dance, which was his willingness to hoof the ball into Row Z when necessary as opposed to taking any unnecessary risks. That was more of the Duffy Celtic fans were promised when the club splashed out a staggering £2million loan fee for the defender.

DOWN

1. Albian Ajeti

The striker started Celtic's previous three games - three victories - but did not even come off the bench against St Johnstone. You could argue that his fitness levels still are not quite up to the standard manager Neil Lennon wants. You could argue him drawing a blank in a 4-0 win last week was not good enough. Either way it's hard to argue that Ajeti's absence was a confusing one.

Did all the 'diving' talk get to him? Did Lennon want to keep him out the firing line? Is he still unfit? I'm not sure which of those reasons is the real one. I'm not sure it matters.

2. Callum McGregor

Glasgow Times:

McGregor's season has been a strange one. For the past few years, the Scotland internationalist has impressed and has been spoken about highly. But for whatever reason he has been off-colour this term. He really hasn't looked the same player. McGregor has been at fault for some important goals conceded this season and it could be argued that he should have done a lot better to prevent Shaun Rooney scoring the opener for St Johnstone.

He didn't have his same usual influence on the match tempo either, but captain Scott Brown being the human metronome in the middle of the park beside him, he didn't need to play that role. 

3. David Turnbull

Ex-Motherwell kid Turnbull has been seriously impressive since joining Celtic and been part of, pretty much, all good things at the club since he was introduced into the starting XI. So it might seem a tad harsh to consider his stock taking any sort of plummet after one quiet performance. The thing is, however, that's what Turnbull's form this term has done for the player - raised the bar.

Any match where he does not have any sort of influence is going to look sub-par by his usual high standards. A victim of his own success? Perhaps. But he didn't perform against Saints.