By Celtic's standards since Strachan's arrival in 2005, this month has been a quite reasonable July - even if a record of three wins, one draw and three defeats could only be described as successful by the most ardent supporter.

Eleven goals scored and 13 conceded is a statistic which would be worrying, if Celtic and their supporters were not privy to the alarming July results ahead of the past two triumphant Scottish Premier League campaigns.

Those results have included a 4-0 humbling by DC United and the 5-0 Champions League thrashing by Artmedia Bratislava.

Today should see home debuts for $10.1million midfielder Scott Brown, $1.75m Socceroo striker Scott McDonald and former AC Milan midfielder Massimo Donati.

Home supporters are also expected to turn out in force for their first chance of the summer to see Celtic, and after the defeats to Basle, MLS All-Stars and Newcastle, the occasion cannot be taken lightly.

Clearly Celtic are lacking the form which took them to last season's domestic double and the Champions League last 16, but it might take just one strong display for the new pieces in Strachan's jigsaw to fall into place.

Strachan was far from forlorn in the aftermath of Thursday's 4-1 defeat by Newcastle, stating: "I am a manager whose future looks bright."

While Strachan is expected to agree a new contract in the near future, there is little doubt he has felt the recent absence of Shunsuke Nakamura.

In America, where Celtic also recently drew against Chicago Fire, Nakamura would be described as a 'go-to' player, and without the architect of last season's success his importance to the Bhoys has been magnified.

Worse still, Nakamura is likely to be exhausted by the time he returns to Glasgow from the Asian Cup.

The Japan midfielder saw his hopes of another victory medal scuppered by a semi-final defeat to Saudi Arabia in Hanoi, and was on the losing side again last night as South Korea won a goalless third-place play-off on penalties.

The Scottish game's undisputed player of last season was almost left out of the team who faced South Korea in the Indonesian city of Palembang because of travel fatigue.

And with a long flight back to Scotland to come, Nakamura could be longing for a rest over the coming week, unfortunate timing given the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season starts for the Bhoys with the home match against Kilmarnock on Sunday, August 5.

Japan touched down in Palembang after a journey involving three flights last night, with coach Ivica Osim saying: "It is a clear fact that the players are tired and this is a big problem for us.

"Despite the fact that they are tired, the players are highly motivated and although they are tired they lie about this and this is a big problem for us.

"I can't control the players' feelings but this is a dangerous situation because if they are on the pitch and they are tired we will have a lot of problems.

"In case Nakamura or (Naohiro) Takahara played and lost the match, people will ask, 'Why did I play with them while they are tired?'"

Japan had spent their campaign in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, before the third-place match.

Nakamura has played six competitive matches, and had a shorter summer break than his Celtic team-mates after being called up for pre-tournament training by Japan in June.

Playing for the full 120 minutes against the South Koreans will inevitably have sapped him of even more energy.

While Nakamura's efforts take their toll, Strachan is still waiting to be impressed by his strikers this summer.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and former Motherwell frontman McDonald have each scored twice, but no-one has delivered the big performance to secure their place in the team to face Killie next weekend.

Kenny Miller, Chris Killen, Maciej Zurawski and Derek Riordan will each be hoping for the chance tomorrow to stake a claim.

Strachan said after the Newcastle match: "I see a lot of things that can be rectified. We know what we want to do.

"There are one or two little failings at the moment which can easily be put right. They are just functional things which we will keep to ourselves."

He added: "Sometimes you get some horrendous results pre-season, then the season is all right. You never really know at this time.

"You can only really gauge your emotions at the end of the season, and they are real ones."