Kasper Hogh on the bench as Celtic crush Hearts 7-1

Celtic’s 7-1 demolition of Hearts on Sunday added fuel to the debate around Kasper Hogh’s place in the team, after the Denmark forward was named on the bench while Camilo Duran, Callum Osmand and Haissem Hassan started up front. The result also came after O’Neill hauled Hogh off at half-time in last Thursday’s Europa League defeat at Benfica.

Despite the criticism, O’Neill insisted he still expects the 25-year-old to end the campaign with 20 goals. He accepted Hogh had “lost a bit of confidence”, but said it’s something the squad will work through as the season goes on.

The starting spot question

Hogh has had a slow start at Celtic: he has scored in only one of his 12 appearances, that being a hat-trick against Kilmarnock in August. Still, he did contribute in the 7-1 win, coming off the bench to set up Benjamin Nygren’s side’s seventh goal, and he assisted in the 2-0 victory over Motherwell a week earlier.

The other selection headache is the form of Duran, who has 14 goal involvements (nine goals, five assists) in 15 matches and has looked at his best, including in a wide role. Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan backed that view, saying he would pick Duran over Hogh every day.

BBC Scotland pundit Andy Halliday also argued that Hogh isn’t doing enough in Celtic’s attacking shape right now, even though he believes Hogh will get his goals over time. With Thursday’s Europa League match against Celta Vigo next, O’Neill faces a direct decision on whether Hogh returns to the first-choice front three.