The clock is already ticking for Kasper Hogh as he looks to avoid becoming the latest Celtic striker flop. The Denmark international joined the Bhoys for £11million upfront plus add-ons in the summer, and he was supposed to be a signing who brought real quality to the front line.

It was expected that Hogh would start and Camilo Durán would compete for that position, but it has been quite the opposite. Durán has been a sensation wherever he has played, be it centrally or on the wing, and even when he hasn't scored, he has been a workhorse that Celtic fans have loved to watch.

Durán was initially shoehorned out wide to accommodate for Hogh, but due to poor form from the latter, Durán has played more often in his more natural position of late, and with goals in each of his last three games, it's becoming more and more difficult for Martin O'Neill to avoid playing him there.

Hogh started the game centrally against Benfica and was substituted at half-time after missing from a yard out, continuing his goal drought, which now spans over two months. The pricey summer signing hasn't scored since his hat-trick against Kilmarnock on August 9.

His finishing has been clumsy, and amid an apparent desperation to turn things around, he has often found himself out of position and unable to offer the sort of bright hold-up play Celtic fans saw from him early on.

O'Neill has been patient with the striker, suggesting Hogh just needs a goal to turn things around.

"At the end of the season, I expect Kasper Hogh to score 20 goals," O'Neill told Sky Sports.

"He has lost a bit of confidence; we will get that back during the course of time. We have game, after game, after game between now and January, but he will score goals for us; there is no question about it, and it is just a matter of tinkering around, but that's the nature of the business."

But excuses are running out. Striker Callum Osmand started on the left for Celtic in their 7-1 romp of Hearts over the weekend, and he connected seamlessly with Durán. The former Wales youth international scored twice, and the first was a clinical 1v1 finish, the sort Celtic's £11million signing has not been able to produce.

That was Osmand's first-ever start for Celtic at 20 years of age, so if he can do it, there is no excuse for Hogh not to be producing. Osmand, who is naturally a striker, is a major threat to Hogh and his game time, and that's the first part of the Hearts game that must shock the Danish striker into form.

Hogh's poor form this season:

• Appearances: 8
• Goals: 3
• Assists: 2
• Shots per game: 3.2
• Dispossessed per game: 1.5
• Unsuccessful touches per game: 2.2
• Expected goals per 90: 0.89

Hogh did come off the bench during the game and he did produce one good moment, receiving the ball to feet, turning and playing in Benjamin Nygren for his second goal, and Celtic's seventh.

That was the sort of moment Hogh needs to help him regain his confidence, and it does make it two assists in two league games, both of which have been for Nygren goals. Celtic need more than that from the striker, they need him to take the ball and get shots on goal, which he is currently not doing. But any confidence boost will be welcome for Hogh, and paired with the new pressure being applied by Osmand, this has to be the moment he steps things up.

If he doesn't, he risks becoming an £11million flop, and he has arguably already been given more rope than most because of the big fee that was paid for him and his reputation as a player.