Updated at 17.36

CELTIC COULD be crowned William Hill Premiership champions on Sunday following a 5-1 hammering of Kilmarnock at Parkhead, while elsewhere, Irish players Roland Idowu and Emmanuel Adegboyega were on target.

Boss Brendan Rodgers demanded better from his players following the shock 1-0 defeat at bottom side St Johnstone last weekend and with only 11 minutes played, his side were two goals to the good through a terrific strike from midfielder Reo Hatate and a tap-in by striker Daizen Maeda.

The hungry Hoops soon added further goals from defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and Hatate again before Danny Armstrong pulled a goal back for the rocked Rugby Park outfit just before the half-hour mark.

But a last-gasp strike by substitute Anthony Ralston at the end of a less dynamic second half restored Celtic’s four-goal margin.

Celtic finished the afternoon 16 points ahead of Rangers, who play Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow.

Should the Ibrox side lose, they will have only 15 points left to play for, which means Celtic will be crowned champions for the fourth successive season and the 13th time in 14 years, although there is little doubt that the Parkhead side will eventually get there in the end.

Derek McInnes’ side were simply blown away in the first half and will have to fight in their final five fixtures to stay clear of relegation.

Rodgers promised changes next summer in the wake of the McDiarmid Park performance, which prevented a possible title-winning game against Kilmarnock.

The Northern Irishman made more immediate alterations to his side with veteran winger James Forrest, defenders Liam Scales and Greg Taylor and attacker Adam Idah back in the side.

Celtic came flying out and the startled visitors soon found themselves a goal down.

Japan midfielder Hatate played a bounce pass with Taylor and from 25 yards curled an unstoppable shot past Killie goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara.

Kilmarnock were still coming to terms with the early setback when Hoops midfielder Arne Engels played in overlapping right-back Alistair Johnston, whose cross got past defender Lewis Mayo on the line and fell to Maeda and he simply tapped into an empty net for his 31st Celtic goal this season.

O’Hara saved a Scales thunderbolt from distance before fellow centre-back Carter-Vickers, in acres of space in the 21st minute, powered in a drive from 25 yards high past O’Hara.

Johnston set up Hatate for his second with another cut-back from the right four minutes later, the Hoops playmaker taking a touch before sliding the ball into the corner from 12 yards with the Kilmarnock defence all over the place.

The shell-shocked visitors reduced the deficit when Armstrong turned on to his left foot on the right side and flighted the ball high over Hoops keeper Viljami Sinisalo, albeit it could have been more of a cross than a shot.

Back came Celtic, and when O’Hara blocked a close-range shot from Hatate, Maeda was on hand to slam the ball into the net from eight yards but this time the VAR ruled offside.

There was a lull in the game before Engels clipped the bar in the 77th minute, and then deep into three minutes of added time, Ralston, on for Johnston, scored with an angled-drive with Celtic now on the brink of yet another title success.

Meanwhile, St Mirren secured their third successive top-six finish in the Premiership with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Ross County at the SMISA Stadium.

The Buddies started the afternoon knowing that nothing other than a win would be good enough to pip Hearts and Motherwell to the final place in the top half.

They would have to do things the hard way. Goals from Caolan Boyd-Munce and Jonah Ayunga cancelled out Ronan Hale’s opener, before Jordan White dragged County level.

Saints’ boss Stephen Robinson threw on Idowu and Connor McMenamin for the final 10 minutes to find a winner.

It almost paid dividends immediately as former Bohs and Waterford player Idowu spurned a glorious chance after being picked out by a pinpoint delivery from his fellow substitute.

The Dubliner made amends 60 seconds later when he drilled into the bottom corner from outside the box to send the home fans wild.

In the dying seconds, the news that the match between Motherwell and Hearts had finished goalless was met by a thunderous roar, and Robinson’s men would do their bit as they held on to seal a momentous victory.

And finally, Dundee United made it three Premiership wins in a row with a narrow 1-0 victory over St Johnstone at Tannadice.

Dundalk-born defender Adegboyega — on loan from Norwich City — was the home hero with the only goal of the game in the first half.

The win lifted the Terrors to fourth in the table above Aberdeen, who play tomorrow, while Saints remain bottom.

The deadlock was broken by United in the 25th minute. Former Ireland U21 international Will Ferry delivered a corner from the right with Sam Dalby playing the ball back across goal to Adegboyega, and the ex-Drogheda player fired home from close range.

Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy