'Desperate' Celtic man sympathised with after weekend woe but warned Parkhead 'alternatives' ready to step up

Hogh, 25, became the club’s record signing when he joined from Bodo/Glimt for a fee of £11million in the summer, but he has now failed to find the net in his last 16 appearances for Celtic, with his hat-trick against Kilmarnock on August 9 the last time he scored for the club.

The Denmark international looked to have ended his long spell without a goal in Sunday’s victory over Kilmarnock at Celtic Park, latching onto Benjamin Nygren’s layoff before slamming home beyond Nico Mantl. However, his delight was short-lived, with the strike disallowed for a foul by Mika Baur in the build up.

Speaking to the Scottish Football Social Club, pundit Michael Stewart isn’t 100 per cent convinced the goal should have been chalked off, saying: “I have a certain degree of sympathy for Celtic and Mika Baur here,” when asked by host Darrell Currie how “desperate” Hogh is for a goal. “It feels like its [the foul] far enough back, that you could maybe let it go?” he added. “Technically it probably is [a foul]. But is that what you want to see for goals getting chalked off?

“As I said, there was a still a bit [of play] before the goal. I’m a bit conflicted with it, because I wanted to see goals scored. But then technically it probably is a foul. So I think the question that needs to be asked is it a high enough bar for it to be ruled out? It is probably right on the bar. He kicks his foot, rather than the ball. Ultimately it hasn’t affected the result, which is a positive. But I’m conflicted. I’m right on the fence with that one.”

Following the game, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill defended the misfiring hitman, saying: “I want centre-forwards to be able to hold it and that is what he did. He is not [Camilo] 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 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 that last night I wanted him to be strong and fight when the ball is played up to him. 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. But it will be nice for him to score a goal.”

Despite O’Neill’s defence of Hogh, and Stewart’s own sympathy for his goal against Kilmarnock being disallowed, the TV pundit thinks that the big number nine will need to start scoring for O’Neill’s men, or accept being replaced by others within Celtic’s squad, with the Scottish champions having plenty of alternatives in their ranks.

“It is going to be a constant concern for Celtic in regards to Kasper Hogh and his performances,” said Stewart. “They have alternatives they can utilise, but when you’re spending that money on a record signing and they’re not performing, it is always going to be a major concern.”

The Scottish Football Social Club is presented by BetSBK.com | 18+ | Gamble Responsibly

Get our daily football newsletter by clicking here.