Callum McGregor feels it’s incumbent on Kasper Hogh’s team-mates to protect him by providing the opportunities which can help end his goal drought.

The Dane provided an assist for Camilo Duran in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Dundee United yet was still hooked at half-time.

Since netting a hat-trick at Kilmarnock on August 9, the forward has now gone 13 matches without finding the net in a Celtic jersey.

The club’s record signing at £11million from Bodo/Glimt in the summer, Hogh looks a shadow of the player who scored freely in the Champions League for the Norwegians last season. But skipper McGregor insists the problem can only be solved if the entire squad takes responsibility for playing to their team-mate’s strengths.

‘We don’t get that much training time now with all the games, but he is working hard,’ McGregor said.

‘Obviously, he can score goals. He’s scored goals at a really high level as well, so we have to respect that.

‘It’s about 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, all strikers, they go through good spells and they go through bad spells. Sometimes you just need a goal to hit off them 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.

‘We’re all in it together, we’re working hard with him and we back him to get goals.’

Duran’s goal should have paved the way for Celtic to extend their lead at the top of the table but Martin O’Neill’s side found themselves behind at the break when United struck through Zac Sapsford and Neil Farrugia.

While Liam Scales’ header ensured Celtic claimed the draw which maintained the status quo at the top of the Premiership, the manager admitted he was concerned that his team didn’t exert enough control on the match.

‘Yeah, I do agree with that,’ added McGregor. ‘That’s something we are trying hard to fix. What that does is bring you control in the game and there are less counter-attack moments.

‘When you get to certain areas of the pitch, of course you want to attack. But if it’s not on or there is no space, then you cap out and pass it to your mate. Then we try to recirculate the ball into a better area. That has always been the message.

‘When you get one or two new players, you have to really hone in on that. The temptation can be to do it on your own, but actually if you are giving yourself to the team, you will get goals and assists because we will get you to the right areas to go and affect the game properly. It’s something we are working hard on.’

O’Neill began the night with Callum Osmand and Duran – two centre forwards – playing on the flanks with Hogh playing through the middle.

McGregor feels the side’s up-and-down form is partly stemming from such inconsistency in shape.

‘I agree. You are seeing a lot of that,’ he said. ‘It’s not really having a nailed-on profile for each of the positions.

‘The players behave like a winger, or they behave like a striker. You can get away with it for a few games, but if it’s a striker playing as a winger, you are going to get that behaviour a lot of the time.

‘You’ve got enough quality so you can score goals and get away with it. But we have to try to get the team functioning the way it should. Then that will alleviate all the other problems that we are encountering, where it becomes a bit basketball, you lose control and spend the next 15 minutes trying to get possession back.’

McGregor feels it’s imperative that the side has a clear identity if it’s not to continue to struggle to put opponents to the sword.

‘For players, you want control in games as ultimately that cuts everything else down,’ he explained. ‘It’ll cut running and transitions down and that is the type of team we want to be — and have been.

‘When you have a template that you know works, you try to get as close to it as you can. That is what brings success and, at times, it has been good.

‘We have been free-flowing and scored goals. But it’s over a 60-game period. How sustainable is it really? That is the question.

‘We were getting closer to that in the second half against United and the Motherwell game. But there is a long way to go and a lot of games to play. The team will get better.’