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Why Hartson can empathise with Kasper Hogh's Celtic struggles

The ex-striker, who took 10 games to score his first goal for the club following his £6 million move from Coventry City in 2001, sees similarities between his early struggles and Hogh's current situation.

Like Hogh, Hartson's first goals for the team came in a hat-trick, but the Dane has failed to score since his treble against Kilmarnock.

However, Hartson is confident Hogh will eventually thrive under the pressure to perform.

The former striker told the Scottish Sun: "Hogh arrived with a big reputation, costing £11m, and started on fire.

"But he’s gone off the boil and I’m just hoping he soon finds his feet again and starts scoring goals on a regular basis."

Hartson admits he was impressed by the Dane before his arrival at Celtic.

"He’s definitely got something about him," he said.

"I’d seen a few clips of him for Bodo/Glimt before he arrived and I liked what I saw.

"He then came to Scotland and it was a wonderful hat-trick he scored against Kilmarnock down at Rugby Park."

However, Hartson acknowledges that things haven't quite gone Hogh's way since then.

He said: "Listen, I always hope the centre-forwards do well at Celtic.

"It’s not easy.

"In my time, I generally didn’t go three or four games without a goal.

"But it took me a little bit of time to find my feet."

Hartson believes Hogh just needs to regain his confidence.

"Hogh just needs to get his confidence back so he’s not snatching at things," he said.

"But he’ll get the support of the manager.

"Martin was patient with me and I like to think I repaid him with the amount of goals I scored.

"Hopefully things will turn out the same for Hogh."

Despite Camilo Duran's recent inclusion in the team against Hearts, Hartson is confident Hogh still has an important role to play.

He said: "I know Camilo Duran has come into the team against Hearts on Sunday, but Martin will still feel Hogh has a big part to play in the team."

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