Brendan Rodgers has Celtic icon swooning over way he's recast Matt O'Riley into Premiership's top marksmen

Former Celtic star Packie Bonner believes Brendan Rodgers deserves heady praise for helping Matt O'Riley storm to the top of the Scottish Premiership scoring charts.

The midfielder only managed four goals in 50 games last season but is already up to six as he continues to thrive under the tutelage of the returning Irishman. And Bonner believes O'Riley is shining by dropping deeper than he did under Ange Postecoglou. The subtle Celtic tweak inserted by Rodgers is allowing the Denmark international to time his runs into the box with devastating effect. His stunning finish in the win against Hearts came from a burst from deep before Luis Palma expertly found him.

And Bonner is loving what he is seeing from O'Riley who continues to build upon his burgeoning reputation. He told BBC: “[Rodgers] maybe changed slightly the position of him and in relation to what he was doing under Ange [Postecoglou]. He was playing very, very high and staying high and now he is asked to go a little bit deeper at times but he is still making those runs into the box and the timing of those runs is magnificent.”

But the man himself isn't setting a target for himself in terms of how many goals he wants to net this season as he strives to keep focus on the bigger picture. He said: “I haven’t set any targets in terms of numbers, I’m not really thinking about numbers at all at the moment if I’m being honest.

"I actually forget quite often when people ask me, which I think is a good sign as I’m solely focused on improving my all-round game. I think goals just come as part of that.”