Dundee manager Tony Docherty says Luke McCowan’s impressive start to life at Celtic does not surprise him…
Luke McCowan opened the scoring at Fir Park on Sunday with a cool reversed finish into Aston Oxborough’s bottom left hand corner, and has been a revelation for the Hoops since arriving on transfer deadline day from Dundee.
Making his first competitive start for his boyhood club against Motherwell came five days after ticking off another dream by featuring in the Champions League for the first time. McCowan’s debut in Europe’s elite club competition was one to remember as Brendan Rodgers’ side pulled off a crucial 0-0 draw in Bergamo against Atalanta a week ago.
Now, the former Dundee and Ayr United man looks set to face off versus his former employers this evening at Paradise.
The 26 year-old made 125 competitive appearances for the Dee over three years, scoring 28 times and was an integral part of Tony Docherty’s success in reaching the Premiership’s top six last season.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Docherty was full of praise for his ex skipper who has fitted into new beginnings at Celtic seamlessly.
“I’m not surprised at all to see how well he’s doing at Celtic because I knew the player that we had here, what a talented boy he was. Not just a talented footballer but a good person. And he really responded when I came into the club in terms of giving a wee bit more leadership and authority.”
“But he has now moved on and he is an opponent and we will be doing all we can to make sure he is not a happy boy [tonight].”
With one eye on all the action at Pittodrie as Aberdeen face off against theRangers, Celtic could have the chance to open up a gap at the top of the table with a victory tonight. Or, they could significantly widen the gap between themselves and Phillipe Clement’s side. Either way, a Celtic win will have ramifications at the foot of the table.
A replication of Celtic’s 7-1 thumping of Dundee back the last time these two sides met in late February would be of great satisfaction.
Conor Spence
Celtic in the Thirties (Volumes One and Two) are both published next Tuesday 5th November. Order your signed copies now and treasure these landmark Celtic titles brilliantly researched and written by Matt Cor. Order at Celticstarbooks.com…
