Celtic record breaker sent advice from club hero as route to banishing early struggles outlined

The Dane netted a hat-trick versus Kilmarnock in August but that remains the only goals scored for his new team. Celtic paid a club record transfer fee during the summer transfer window for Hogh but form shown in Norway and the Champions League with Bodo Glimt has not yet followed him to Scotland’s Premiership champions.

Scoring 82 times in 138 games for Celtic in his career, Hooper insists Hogh’s next effort may set him off on a free-scoring run. The 38-year-old said: “You have to take it game by game. Kasper has come in and he doesn’t know the league or the players and it does take time to get used to it. Scoring a hat-trick early on, people then expect you to score goal after goal.

What does Kasper Hogh need to become a Celtic success

“It’s not always that easy. His next goal is the most important one. I’m sure once he gets the next one he can go on a run. He’s a goal scorer. He showed that with his hat trick against Kilmarnock but he’s proved it at a high level, with plenty of goals in Europe.

“I’m sure it will come for him. The key thing is not letting anything affect you. Just play your game, don’t change. The chances will come at Celtic, because they create so much. It doesn’t matter if you miss 10 of them – as long as you score when it matters.

“You just have to trust yourself. Obviously everyone is on him because it’s been a few games since he scored but I’m sure Kasper trusts himself and it will be fine. You realise now how big the club is, but back then you don’t think about at the time. Maybe it’s because you are young but scoring goals definitely helps you settle.”

Hooper regularly watches his old side, who he represented at the Tennent’s Sixes reboot over the weekend, winning the ex-pros tournament with a 5-4 victory over rivals Rangers in the final. Martin O’Neill’s side have lost the last two derbies, a 3-0 pasting in a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final battle at Ibrox, before succumbing 1-0 on their own Parkhead patch a week later during their Premiership rematch. Hooper feels manager O’Neill will be a calming voice in times of trouble.

Gary Hooper on Celtic

The former striker said: “I watched the Old Firm game the other week and I’ve kept my eye on them. It’s just different playing in Glasgow. You have to take the highs but then also deal with the lows. The recent results will have hurt but the great thing in this city is there’s always the next one.

“It’s good they have O’Neill in there at times like these. He seems like he is very calm in there. We had the experience of Neil Lennon – but I wouldn’t say he was calm after defeats! But these guys know what it is all about. I’d think Martin won’t have had to say too much to them but it’ll be about how they bounce back.

“It’s not nice losing to Rangers. But there is always a chance to hit back in the next one. I managed to score in my first Old Firm but we lost the game at home. It was a disappointing one but he did well in the next one. That’s the key to it.”

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