The striker helped himself to a double and Kris Commons was also on target, with the Scottish champions severely lacking at Parkhead.

This meeting was in stark contrast to the last derby clash in the east end of Glasgow, when Rangers emerged with a convincing 3-1 win in enemy territory.

Hooper was quizzed about what he felt had changed since that game in October.

He said: "We showed with this performance today that our mental strength is really good, we are performing well and everybody is comfortable on the ball.

"Maybe we are just more confident. Not much has changed so maybe we just believe in ourselves more now.

"We are performing well and we have shown that for the last few months."

Reflecting on yesterday's win, he added: "It was a perfect result and the performance was too.

"We kept a clean sheet and scored goals and that's what we need to do.

"There is confidence everywhere. We showed that by just keeping the ball when we were 3-0 up and we didn't really give them much and we performed well.

"The manager told us to enjoy it and, basically, win. He didn't want anything less and we showed that.

"There was nothing to fear. We have been performing well and defending well and that's the main thing.

"We scored goals and kept Rangers out and I managed to get two goals myself and Kris got one with a good strike."

Like his manager Neil Lennon, Hooper remained cautious about Celtic's hopes of wresting the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title from Rangers' grasp.

"I'm not focused on the trophy," he said.

"The main thing was to win the game and to carry on winning games and see what happens.

"We are not thinking about the championship, we are just focusing on the three points."

Rangers have two games in hand but Celtic's eight-point advantage at the summit now puts the title race in their own hands.

Hooper added: "It's massive. We are eight points clear now and if we just keep on winning, we can put more pressure on them."