Martin O'Neill has insisted he is not worried about Kasper Hogh's goal drought, despite the Celtic frontman going 15 games without a goal. Hogh drew another blank in Thursday's 3-2 win against Besiktas, a result that keeps Celtic's Europa League hopes alive.
O'Neill relied on substitutes Camilo Duran and Callum Osmand to secure the victory, but the Hoops boss hailed Hogh's unselfish role in the result. He insisted the reaction of the Parkhead supporters when the striker was substituted showed fans remain behind the record £11m signing.
O'Neill backs Hogh after Besiktas display
O'Neill said: "Very much so. Centre-forwards need a goal. But that performance there against European opposition will give him confidence."
"I don't know what side we will play on Sunday (against Kilmarnock). But this lad has scored goals in the Champions League remember."
"He will get a confidence boost from last night in terms of doing that part of the game well. It will be nice for him to score a goal."
"I want centre-forwards to be able to hold it and that is what he did. He is not Duran, he is not a dribbler. But if he can do this for us against strong opposition it will stand him in good stead."
"I think the other night will be good for him. I said to him that I'm not worried about whether he scores a goal."
"Of course you want centre-forwards to score and of course centre-forwards live on them. But I said to him I wanted him to be strong and fight when the ball is played up to him. I thought in terms of holding the ball up and bringing people into the game that he did really well."
Duran the main man
Hogh is in contention to face Kilmarnock on Sunday, with Rugby Park the only ground in Scotland where he has scored, following his hat-trick in Ayrshire in August. However, O'Neill admitted that strike rival Duran is the main man at present, with his brace against Besiktas taking his tally to 13 for the campaign.
He said: "At this minute, he is on fire. He can play wide right, he has done that. He has played wide left for his other club. But centre forward is where he is dynamic."
Duran was a surprise substitute in Europe but is expected to return to the starting line-up for the Kilmarnock match. O'Neill said: "We will see. We made five changes the other night because it was necessary."
"We were always going to make the changes. It was necessary if we wanted a bit more gusto in the side and a bit more playing in behind. That gave the opportunity for Duran to weave a bit of magic."
Defensive improvement pleases O'Neill
O'Neill was pleased to get the European campaign up and running, but was equally delighted with the defensive display, with Celtic showing much more discipline without the ball than in recent weeks. He said: "It was really pleasing and really important. We conceded some ground in the game which was to be expected, but I thought defensively we were really, really strong."
"When corners came in we dealt with them and we dealt with second balls as well after it was played out. The back four was terrific. Jordan Lotomba did well until he conceded the penalty."
Cameron Carter-Vickers was struggling towards the end on Thursday and is being assessed ahead of the Kilmarnock match. The defender was back to his best after a difficult afternoon at Falkirk last Sunday.
O'Neill admitted the centre back might have had a point to prove and said: "It looked that way. I thought he was very strong. He was complaining about his hamstrings being very tight and half-time and I thought we would give him another 15 minutes."
"Of course, the game changed in that time and we were chasing the game from behind. But the lads who came on in the forward positions were always going to come on."
"James Forrest was never going to last the whole game. I thought he was outstanding, an absolute credit to the football club with what he did for us. Even defensively. Everybody worked so hard. It was really pleasing."
O'Neill wants the European win to give his side a spark after recent struggles. He said: "That is what we want to do, absolutely. From the European side, we have given ourselves a chance. We will have to go and win away from home and it will not be easy. We are looking forward to Sunday and will look to take it on."
