Celtic 'hoping' unlikely 6'1 hero can help 'fire them to the title'

Journalist Pete O’Rourke reckons that Celtic will be hoping Giorgos Giakoumakis can score the goals to fire them to the title.

The Greek international endured a tough start to life in the Scottish Premiership but has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes since the return from the winter break.

A mixture of injuries, which saw him miss 10 matches, and the form of Kyogo Furuhashi, saw the 27-year-old restricted to just a handful of starts before Christmas.

Giakoumakis had scored just once in eight appearances, only two of which were starts, in what was quickly turning into a frustrating period for the Greek.

But the striker has come back from the break a completely different player and is stepping up to the plate in the absence of Furuhashi.

He’s scored six goals in 11 games since the resumption of Scottish football, including a key strike in Celtic’s win at Hearts and then a hat-trick, including a late winner, against Dundee recently.

Those three goals led to high praise from manager Ange Postecoglou, who called the striker “hugely important” to the Hoops’ plans going forward.

Giakoumakis missed the draw with Hibs on Sunday as Celtic dropped points for the first time since December, although Rangers’ 2-2 draw with Motherwell meant the Hoops’ three point gap at the top of the table remains intact.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “He scored a hat-trick against Dundee, so Celtic will be hoping he can build on this, especially with Kyogo still out injured.

“They need someone to score the goals for them, those goals, especially the late winner, will be a confidence booster, so Celtic will be hoping that he can continue that between now and the end of the season and he can try and fire them to the title.”

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