MOUSSA DEMBELE was denied the chance of his third hat-trick in 21 days by manager Brendan Rodgers when he was taken off after scoring the goals that dumped Hamilton Accies 2-0.
But the Hoops boss insisted the team – and not an individual – must always remain the most important aspect.
The on-fire Frenchman took his season’s total to 29 after his double strike against rock-bottom Accies at Parkhead yesterday.
However, he made way for Leigh Griffiths in the 72nd minute when another treble looked on.
The 20-year-old hitman had claimed back-to-back trios against St Johnstone and Caley Thistle to go along with the three he thumped into the net of Sevco Rangers in September.
Rodgers said: “Moussa was outstanding. He absolutely oozes quality and to see the improvements he is making improvements he’s making is just fantastic.
“He maybe could have got another hat-trick, but it doesn’t matter.
“Like I’ve said before, there is no individual bigger than the team and I always like to make sure, when I can, to think about the team.
“And giving Leigh the minutes at the end was the idea. He’s been working very hard because you can’t go with one one striker.
“I need to have two firing and as fit as they can possibly be. Moussa has been at as high level, of course, and Leigh is on his way back, so that was 20 minutes for him to come back into it again.”
