YOU would be hard pushed to find a top flight club in European football as far removed from Paris Saint-Germain as Hamilton Academical. The challenge Celtic will face taking on the French opponents next week will be quite different from the one they had to negotiate against their Scottish counterparts last night.

Yet, this Ladbrokes Premiership match was in many respects the perfect way for them to return to action after a two week lay-off and warm up for their opening Champions League group game of the season at Parkhead next Tuesday evening.

Yes, the 4G surface at the SuperSeal Stadium would possibly not have been the first choice of their manager Brendan Rodgers or his players to ease back into competitive action on after the international break. But they met with minimal resistance as they strolled to a confidence-boosting 4-1 triumph. Perhaps more importantly, they avoided any injuries.

Celtic will head into their mouth-watering Group B encounter with free-spending Saint-Germain, Dani Alves, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe et al, playing well and with hopes of giving their supporters another night to remember despite the inferior quality of side they brushed aside last night.

This emphatic triumph, secured thanks to a Stuart Armstrong strike and a Scott Sinclair double in the first half and a goal from debutant Odsonne Edouard in the second, extended their undefeated domestic run to 55 games and put them, until Aberdeen take on Hearts at Murrayfield this afternoon at least, a point clear at the head of the top flight table. It was a satisfying night’s work all round.

In was a case of in with the old and in with the new for Celtic last night. They welcomed back their former favourite Patrick Roberts, the Manchester City winger who has returned on a season-long loan deal, and Edouard, the young Saint-Germain striker who will be with the club for the same length of time.

Roberts’s capabilities are well known in this country. He has spent the past year and a half tormenting opposition defences with his trickery and his return was greeted with great rejoicing. The away fans burst into a chant of “there’s only one Paddy Roberts” as he stepped up to take a corner in front of them early on. He didn't disappoint them and performed with all his usual skill and invention.

Edouard, though, is an unknown entity. The 19-year-old started due to both Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths being sidelined through injuries. At 6ft 1in he is certainly an imposing physical presence up front who holds the ball up well and brings those around him into play. He capped a bright individual display by netting in the 65th minute. He will be a decent acquisition.

Sinclair looked far likelier to score early on in proceedings. He was brilliantly denied twice by the Hamilton goalkeeper Gary Woods in the opening 10 minutes. But the visitors laid siege to their hosts’ goal and it was only a matter of time before they took the lead.

It was Armstrong who broke the deadlock. The Scotland midfielder picked up where he had left off in the 2-0 win over Malta at Hampden five days earlier, when he had collected the Man of the match award, and opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

He received the ball from Callum McGregor wide on the right, cut infield and curled an inch-perfect shot beyond Woods and into the bottom right corner. His return to form since agreeing a contract extension last month has been dramatic.

Sinclair bagged two before half-time to kill off the game as a contest. The ball broke to him on the edge of the Hamilton area after a powerful Edouard run upfield in the 29th minute and his shot left Woods with no chance.

He added to his side’s tally three minutes before half-time after Scott McMann had inadvertently turned the ball onto his own post. His opponent pounced on an unexpected opportunity and netted from an acute angle. The brace took his tally for the 2017/18 campaign to eight in 10 games.

Another Friday night, another plastic pitch. Craig Gordon, Scott Brown, Armstrong, Kieran Tierney and James Forrest had all played for Scotland on an artificial surface in the Russia 2018 qualifier against Lithuania in Vilnius seven days before. But the underfoot conditions posed no issues for them.

Jozo Simunovic, though, made a rare appearance on astroturf. The centre half, who has recently switched allegiances from Croatia to Bosnia, is usually rested when his club side isn’t playing on grass due to long-standing knee issues.

But Rodgers had no choice but to field the defender at the heart of a three man rearguard due to the continuing absences of Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko through injury. He will have been a relieved man when Simunovic came off unscathed with 15 minutes remaining as Nir Bitton got another run out at the back.

Hamilton welcomed back Rakish Bingham up front. They certainly posed a threat going forward themselves. Gordon had to be alert to collect two long-range efforts from Ali Crawford in the first half and also had to keep out a powerful drive from Darian McKinnon.

Martin Canning’s side deserved their consolation goal with four minutes remaining. Alex Gogic, who had come on for Dougie Imrie, rose well and powered a Crawford corner beyond Gordon and into the net.

Armstrong came off and Olivier Ntcham and Roberts, who is lacking match fitness and sharpness, also made way for Jonny Hayes after Celtic had gone 4-0 in front. Rodgers has plenty of options available to him for the far bigger challenges which lie ahead.

Griffiths, out with a recurrence of his calf injury, is likely to come back up front and Dembele may even be in the squad, while the Celtic manager will have to decide who to field out of Armstrong, Ntcham, McGregor and Tom Rogic. It is, though, a pleasant problem for him to have ahead of such a a difficult game next week.