Celtic defender Dane Murray has been praised for his performance against Hearts and for recovering from his display against Benfica.

Murray played the full game on Sunday as Celtic hammered Hearts 7-1, with the 23-year-old grabbing an assist for the second goal. Mika Baur swung a corner in, and the opposition tried to clear the ball, but Murray caught it sweetly and registered an acrobatic overhead assist for Benjamin Nygren, who made it 2-0.

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It was Murray’s third straight start in the team, having got the nod in the 2-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

The defender then partnered Auston Trusty against Benfica, but gave a penalty away five minutes in. The Portuguese side opened the scoring and went on to win 4-1.

Charlie Mulgrew made sure to give Murray the credit he deserved for bouncing back from that mistake but admits the jury is still out on him. The former Hoops star also wanted to give a mention to another academy graduate: Colby Donovan.

Speaking on The Breakdown alongside Kevin Thomson, Mulgrew said:

“Dane Murray recovered from his mistake during the week. I think the jury’s out on him.

“He’s like any young player coming through, he’s not played many games.

“I think the two of them, special mention, brilliant. Murray after recovering from that Benfica game, amazing.”

Mulgrew wants more Scottish players to be given an opportunity to shine.

“I love to see when young Scottish players are playing ahead of players that have been signed”, he added. “I think they deserve a chance, and we’ve got the ability in this country for young Scottish players to play.

“Donovan as well, somebody who looked brilliant for me.”

The Scottish duo are clearly a part of Martin O’Neill’s plans for the season, especially given the demanding schedule that the club currently faces.

Donovan has been an able replacement for the injured Alistair Johnston and showed again on Sunday what he can offer. At 20, there are still things he can improve, but his performances have been promising overall.

Murray will not be considered a ‘young’ prospect anymore. He spent the 24/25 campaign out on loan at Queen’s Park, and perhaps could’ve benefitted from a loan at another top-flight side to enhance his development.

Nevertheless, he’s one of Celtic’s centre-back options for this season, and will see his appearances rise from 27 pretty quickly if he continues putting in performances as he did on Sunday.