GettyImagesCeltic celebrate Gary Hooper's (88) opening goal against Spartak Moscow

Georgios Samaras may take all the headlines for scoring the late goal to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory over Spartak Moscow on Tuesday night, but Gary Hooper's form of late has been nothing short of sensational.

Gary Hooper, has already bagged eight goals in 13 games for Celtic this season, two of which have been scored in the Champions League, but his assists are proving key to Celtic's continued success both at home and in Europe.

Tuesday's game saw Hooper score one and then set up James Forrest to net Celtic's second, but his work rate off the ball has improved significantly from last season.

After Celtic's 3-2 victory over Spartak, Lennon said: "....we scored a great goal through Hooper, who was world class. People keep asking me about him playing for England and he showed everyone tonight just how good he is. Hooper was just magnificent and the catalyst for a lot of the good things we did."

Despite his performances, talk of Hooper getting an England call up is tad far-fetched and Lennon lauding him as world-class is maybe just a manager boosting his striker's confidence.

Demolishing the likes of Raith Rovers and scoring against Motherwell is one thing, but his performances in the Champions League are paramount. He failed to hit the dizzy heights seen in Moscow on match day one against Benfica, but turned that on its head with his play on Tuesday.

However, the next big tests are the double headers against Barcelona. If he can continue his fine form against the La Liga giants - and hopefully bag a goal or two - then Lennon's claims of Hooper being a world class striker will have more legs to stand on than at this moment in time.

While he can boost his reputation as a top striker, playing in the Scottish Premier League will prevent Hooper from securing an England call-up in my opinion. If Hooper is looking to secure a call-up or even regular call-ups to the England side - who have the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney to call upon to name but a few - then he must make the move to the English Premier League to have a chance of securing an international cap with England.

Up next for Celtic is a league game at home against Hearts. Can Hooper continue to find his shooting boots against the SPL's 8th placed team?

There is obviously the thought of a European hangover, but with the home support celebrating their success in Europe and urging their side forward then Celtic can continue their winning ways.

As for Hooper, if he continues to find the back of the net on a regular basis home and away, then his price tag will rise and Celtic could ultimately cash in on him for a nice tidy profit.

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email