The news from the Scottish Government that fans can return to stadiums from the 17th of January is great for Celtic and Scottish football overall.

There had to be a concern that it would be a while before stadiums would be full again after restrictions capping crowds at 500 had been brought in last month.

The good news though is that when Celtic return to action against Hibernian on Monday night there should be a 60,000 crowd at the game.

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You have to imagine that there will be a special Celtic Park atmosphere at the game too.

Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, fans can’t take going to games for granted. It shouldn’t be forgotten that there were no fans at Celtic Park for any games last season.

The games this season have been much better as for the most part, stadiums have been full, with no restrictions in number apart from at the very start of the season.

Now when Celtic take on Hibernian on Monday, the game could be played with a great atmosphere of the crowd firmly backing the side.

There are a few reasons to suspect that there will be a great atmosphere at the game. The relief that fans aren’t been restricted in number has to be one of them.

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Then there is the chance that some of Celtic’s new signings could be involved in the game. If for example, Daizen Maeda features and scores, the noise of celebration could be incredible.

There is also the chance that it could be an exciting game as Shaun Maloney returns to Celtic Park for the first time as Hibernian manager.

Quite often when games are end to end encounters, there is a great atmosphere as the fans get behind the team to ensure that the Hoops get the three points.

At around twenty to eight at Celtic Park on Monday, when the teams are in the tunnel, the noise could be quite something, Hopefully that can drive Celtic on to what will be a key win in the battle to win the title.

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Only time will tell if crowd restrictions need to return in Scotland, but hopefully it will not be the case for the rest of this season.

Just in case restrictions do return at some stage, fans should make the most of every chance they get to see their team in action for the rest of this season. That is why the atmosphere should be incredible when Celtic take on Hibernian and for the rest of the games this season.