Callum McGregor issues Kasper Hogh verdict and makes 'expectation' claim

Callum McGregor is backing out of form Kasper Hogh to find his way at Celtic amid a rotten run of form.

Hogh has not scored since his second game of the season, when he scored a hat-trick, and we are now two months removed from that. The striker has not been providing goals, and his performances have also fallen short.

The striker has struggled to produce the good hold-up play that is expected of him, and that has often led to him either being dropped or hooked off early in games, including a number of half-time replacements.

The latest half-time withdrawal came during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Dundee United, and that has only led to more criticism and concern that Celtic's £11million investment could be a flop.

We are not in that territory just yet, but with O'Neill still trying to convince fans that everything will change when he starts scoring again, we really do need to start seeing either goals or more conistent performances soon.

In the meantime, Hogh's teammate McGregor has been speaking about his struggles, telling the media: "Obviously we don’t get that much training time now with the games, but he is working hard. Obviously he can score goals. He’s scored goals at a really high level as well.

“So we have to respect that and it’s the same thing. It’s trying to make the game more consistent for guys like him, the strikers, the wingers, that we can get them in the most effective areas.

“And listen, with all strikers, they go through good spells and they go through bad spells. Sometimes you just need a goal to hit off you and then the floodgates open.

“He’s come in with a big price tag. There’s obviously a lot of expectation, but it’s our job to protect him as well and make the game as easy as it can be for him so that he can get his goals. So yeah, we’re all in it together.

“We’re working hard with him and we back him to get goals.”

Hogh is now more than two months without a goal, and O'Neill is going to have to balance giving Hogh minutes to get him back to form and over-exposing him to more criticism and likely a further loss of confidence.

Ultimately, O'Neill also has to give his team the best chance of winning, and even when Hogh is starting, he is deciding by half-time that the presence of the striker is a problem. That's not doing him or Hogh any good.