O'Neill unfazed by Hogh's barren run
O'Neill is adamant that he is not overly concerned about Hogh's lack of goals, even though the Dane has now gone 15 matches without finding the net. The forward arrived from Bodo/Glimt as Celtic's record signing for £11 million and looked set to be a huge hit when he scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win at Kilmarnock on August 9.
As reported by the Daily Mail, he has gone off the boil since then, and his hopes of ending the run against Besiktas were over when he was taken off 13 minutes from time.
Celtic boss hails Hogh's hold-up play
Callum Osmand and Duran came off the bench to help seal the win, but O'Neill made a point of telling Hogh he should be proud of his work on the night. "I did, absolutely," he explained. "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."
With Hogh left out of the latest Denmark squad, O'Neill believes confidence may be an issue, but he stressed: "I think Thursday night will be good for him. I said to him that I'm not worried about whether he scores a goal."
Duran piles the pressure on Celtic's record signing
Duran's double secured Celtic's first win of their Europa League campaign and took his personal tally for the season to 13. "At this minute, he is on fire," O'Neill said of the Colombian. "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."
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Asked whether it was getting harder to start Hogh ahead of Duran, O'Neill said: "We will see. We made five changes on Thursday night because it was necessary. I don't know what side we will play on Sunday. But this lad has scored goals in the Champions League remember."
Kilmarnock next as Celtic eye the knockout round
Celtic face Kilmarnock on Sunday, the side Hogh scored his hat-trick against in August. With three points on the board at the midway stage in Europe, two more wins from their games with Torreense, Omonia, Marseille and Union Saint-Gilloise may be enough to reach the knockout round.
"From the European side, we have given ourselves a chance," O'Neill said. "We will have to go and win away from home and it will not be easy."