I'm not buying Matt O'Riley Celtic theories but he needs to start hitting his straps along with the rest - Chris Sutton

There's been a lot of talk around Matt O’Riley going off the boil in recent weeks and it’s got some Celtic fans jumping to conclusions.

He must have had his head turned by that Atletico Madrid bid in January. All this stuff about £25million offers in the summer has distracted him and he’s taking his eye off the ball. I’m not buying it. Look, it may be the case O’Riley isn’t quite hitting the heights he reached in the first half of the season. It was always going to be tough for him to maintain that level as he set such a high bar. There was going to be a drop off at some point.

You have to take into account it’s not just O’Riley that’s seen a dip – the entire Celtic team hasn’t clicked often enough since the turn of the year. Or more of the season, in fact. O’Riley hasn’t been helped by the inconsistency of selection either. Celtic can’t make excuses for injuries when they have a cast of thousands in their squad.

But we know the recruitment in the summer and January wasn’t good enough. O’Riley has had to carry the midfield on his own at times, with Reo Hatate out long term and now Callum McGregor on the sidelines. At times it’s been Paulo Bernardo in there alongside him. Previously it was David Turnbull. There have been occasions when McGregor has pushed up and it’s been Tomoki Iwata sitting deeper. The one constant has been O’Riley and it can take its toll.

Don’t forget last season either. At this time O’Riley was struggling to even get in the starting 11 as Aaron Mooy enjoyed a run of games after the new year. He’s still a young player and you’ve got to expect some inconsistency.

I still believe O’Riley has been one of Celtic’s top performers this season. And I don’t think for a second his form is related to the