Martin O'Neill is adamant that he’s not overly concerned about Kasper Hogh’s goal drought — despite the Dane failing to find the net in 15 matches.

Celtic’s record signing at £11million from Bodo/Glimt, the forward looked set to be a huge hit when he scored a hat-trick at Kilmarnock on August 9 only to go off the boil.

His hopes of ending a barren run against Besiktas on Thursday ended when he was taken off 13 minutes from time, with substitutes Callum Osmand and Camilo Duran climbing off the bench to seal a dramatic 3-2 for O’Neill’s men.

But while O’Neill shared Hogh’s frustration at not getting among the goals again, he made a point of telling him that he should have been proud of his other work on the night.

‘I did, absolutely,’ he explained. ‘I want centre-forwards to be able to hold it and that is what he did.

‘He is not Duran, he is not a dribbler. But if he can do this for us against strong opposition it will stand him in good stead.’

With his player not in the latest Denmark squad, O’Neill believes confidence may be an issue. But he stressed: ‘I think Thursday night will be good for him. I said to him that I’m not worried about whether he scores a goal.

‘Of course, you want centre-forwards to score and, of course, centre-forwards live on them. But I said to him that last night I wanted him to be strong and fight when the ball is played up to him. 

'I thought in terms of holding the ball up and bringing people into the game, that he did really well.’

Duran stole the headlines against the Turks, though, with his double securing Celtic’s first win in the Europa League and bringing his personal tally for the season to 13.

‘At this minute, he is on fire,’ O’Neill said of the Colombian. ‘He can play wide right, he has done that. He has played wide left for his other club. But centre forward is where he is dynamic.’

Asked if it was increasingly difficult to start Hogh ahead of Duran through the middle, O’Neill said: ‘We will see. We made five changes on Thursday night because it was necessary.

‘Centre-forwards need a goal but that performance there against European opposition will give him confidence.

‘I don’t know what side we will play on Sunday. But this lad has scored goals in the Champions League remember. 

'He will get a confidence boost from Thursday night in terms of doing that part of the game well. But it will be nice for him to score a goal.’

While O’Neill’s side now focus on Kilmarnock, the win over Besiktas has breathed new life into their European campaign. With three points on the board at the midway point, two further wins from their matches with Torreense, Omonia, Marseille and Union Saint-Gilloise may see them qualify for the knockout round.

‘It was really pleasing and really important,’ O’Neill said of Thursday’s dramatic victory. ‘We conceded some ground in the game which was to be expected, but I thought defensively we were really, really strong.

‘From the European side, we have given ourselves a chance. We will have to go and win away from home and it will not be easy. We are looking forward to Sunday and we will look to take it on.’