HOGH OR DURAN? CELTIC HERO’S VERDICT

MARTIN O’NEILL is still attempting to fathom how to play £17million double-act Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran in the same forward line.

The Dane and Colombian haven’t quite clicked on a consistent basis and that has left the veteran Celtic boss with a bit of a quandary.

Does Hogh, the Hoops’ record signing at £11million-plus from Bodo/Glimt, or £6million recruit Duran who signed in July from Qarabag?

Fans have been puzzled how O’Neill cannot get the pair to dovetail in the manner of Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson or John Hartson and the Swedish icon during the Irishman’s first spell as team boss a quarter-of-a-century ago.

GREEN FOR GO? Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran have presented Celtic boss Martin O’Neill with a selection problem

Duran hit the ground running after his arrival and scored in three successive pre-season friendlies against Sporting Lisbon, Middlesbrough and AC Milan, but fired blanks after the introduction of Hogh for the first two Premiership encounters of the new campaign against Dundee (1-0) and Kilmarnock (5-1).

The lively little raider had to wait until the 4-0 Premier Sports League Cup win over Dundee United at Tannadice to claim his first competitive strike for the champions.

Since then, Duran has netted doubles against LASK (3-0) and Falkirk (2-1) and a single against Aberdeen (3-0).

Remarkably, Hogh has not claimed a goal since his blistering first-half hat-trick in the rout at Rugby Park on August 9.

The powerhouse attack-leader missed three games through injury following the 5-1 catastrophic loss in Austria that saw Celtic ejected from the Champions League.

In total, he has now failed to hit the net in EIGHT outings.

HAPPY DAZE…Kasper Hogh races away after completing a whirlwind hat-trick in Celtic’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Kieran Tierney is about to add his congratulations.

Hogh was in the starting line-up for the League Cup debacle at Ibrox before being removed just after the hour mark to make way for James Forrest.

He was named as a substitute for the following midweek Europa League clash against Ferencavros, but came on at the interval for Benjamin Nygren.

Hogh was again named in the stand-by squad for the Premiership meeting with Derek McInnes’ side at the same venue four days later and, once again, had to wait until the 46th minute before making an appearance as a replacement for Luke McCowan.

O’Neill is now puzzling over his formation for the champions’ visit to Fir Park a week today where they will take on Motherwell as the Premiership restarts after the international break in which Duran made his Colombian debut and Hogh has been utilised as a substitute by Denmark.

Analysing O’Neill’s predicament, former Hoops goal hero Sutton admitted: “It’s a tough one, but the Colombian maverick gets the nod.

SMILES BETTER…Camilo Duran celebrates his strike in the 3-0 victory over Aberdeen.

“I think Duran has shown his versatility and could possibly play as a No.10, but Celtic need to play him in his best position and that’s a central striker.

“I’m not writing Kasper Hogh off, but if it comes down to a straight shoot off between the record signing and Duran for the number nine role, then there’s only one choice.”

Sutton, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “I was disappointed with the way they didn’t connect and link up against Rangers in the second-half and that’s a concern.

“They both have the attributes to play in a two, but have to show it and play off each other, get an understanding and play closer together.”

For the record, Sutton has named his best formation of the current players. It reads:

Viljami Sinisalo; Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Kieran Tierney; Benjamin Nygren, Callum McGregor, Mika Baur; Haissem Hassan, Camilo Duran and Yang Hyun-jun.