Hooper is Watt counts for Celtic

Tony Watt has heaped praise on Celtic strike partner Gary Hooper for helping him make an explosive start to the Scottish Premier League season.

The teenage striker scored two in the 4-2 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, helped set up Kris Commons' equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Ross County before scoring for Scotland Under-21s in their matches against Luxembourg and Austria.

His exploits have earned him the young player of the month award in the SPL.

With Georgios Samaras out injured the 18-year-old looks set to start against St Johnstone when the Hoops travel to McDiarmid Park on Saturday and could be involved in their Champions League match against Benfica on Wednesday.

But Watt reckons he would not have been recognised without the support of Hoops strike partner Gary Hooper.

"Gary has been absolutely brilliant with me since I got into the first team," Watt said.

"Playing with him has been a lot easier than playing alongside anybody else because he knows his game so well and I just try to play off him. Really, Gary has done wonders for me and my game.

"He does all the hard work in the matches and, in truth, has probably made me look like a much better player than I am." Celtic could welcome back Scott Brown for the match after the midfielder missed Scotland's recent World Cup qualifying double-header with a hip injury.

Brown has yet to start an SPL game this season and may yet require an operation on the problem but hopes the right amount of rest between games may offset the need for any immediate fix.

"I've had two weeks off where I've done pretty much nothing, just resting. We'll try and see if I can play on Saturday or, if not, maybe make Wednesday," Brown added.

"It's just a bit of wear and tear and some inflammation as well. I've just got to sit out here and there in training. But it seems to be feeling a lot better these days. AFP