Charlie Mulgrew has questioned Dane Murray’s lack of experience in defending direct passes after his performance for Celtic against Hibs.

In what was far from a classic at Easter Road, conditions weren’t ideal for either side to play football as Martin O’Neill’s men claimed a hard-fought victory.

It was a fifth straight start for Murray, the best run of his senior Parkhead career. The gap between his potential and current ability is a frequent point of disagreement among supporters.

For Mulgrew, there are questions over how well-prepared the defender is for life as a senior Hoops defender due to the significant differences between youth and senior football.

Charlie Mulgrew on Dane Murray: ‘He’s got to take charge’

Mulgrew said on the Go Radio Football Show: “My worry with Murray with balls in the box is that, coming through academy football these days as these boys have done, how many times have they defended long balls?

“How many times have they defended crosses into the box? A lot of academy football, now, is everything in front of you. A thousand passes between centre halves and goalkeepers.

“We’re rarely playing long channel balls, putting balls in your box or defending long diagonals. So these guys are doing well, but they’re learning on the job in the Celtic first team.

“Dane Murray, for me, has got to take charge of the situation for the Hibs goal. As a centre-back, your job is to sense danger. So at that point, when the free kick goes down, he’s got to put somebody in front of the ball or he’s got to move over to the right a wee bit more, or he’s got to pull Donovan in.

“He’s got to be in charge of that situation. Again, that’s something an experienced guy would do naturally. Somebody like Carter-Vickers.

“So Murray is now learning on the job, which is a wee bit of a worry because Celtic need to win games. They can’t afford to go behind often like they did on Sunday.”

Murray was moved to right-back in the latter stages of the game in place of the injured Alistair Johnston. He has been used there on a number of occasions this season.