Celtic striker Scott McDonald admits his partnership with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has been given a boost by the arrival of on-loan striker Georgios Samaras.
The Greece international has had to content himself with appearances off the bench since moving up to Parkhead from Manchester City in the January transfer window.
The lanky hit-man scored as a substitute on his debut in a 5-1 Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
However, perhaps the most important contribution Samaras has made has been to keep the McDonald-Vennegoor of Hesselink partnership on a state of high alert.
McDonald has notched five and Vennegoor of Hesselink four since the arrival of the new boy.
The Australian international, who is hoping to add to his 24 goals to date against St Mirren at Love Street on Sunday, said: "Georgios has looked very impressive since he has been here.
"If he wasn't fully fit when he came then he is now.
"All he will be asking for is more time in games but Jan and I have probably frustrated him a little bit by our performances.
"Jan has been fantastic for us and it was disappointing to see him come off against Barcelona because I really thought he was making all the difference and giving them a lot of problems.
"Hopefully he will be fit for the weekend and give the gaffer a selection headache."
McDonald admits to having his best season in terms of goals but the former Motherwell striker was quick to commend the rest of the Celtic squad for his impressive tally to date.
He said: "I don't think I've ever scored this many goals in a season before.
"I'm really enjoying it but I think it's down to all my team-mates as well and the chances they create.
"I've always had the belief in front of goal that I can score goals, but I'm getting a lot more chances this year and I believe that's why I'm scoring as many as I am.
"I've sort of raised my game as well so it's a mixture of both really.
"But Celtic Park, in front of 60,000 fans, is a fantastic place to come and play and if you're not up to it they'll soon tell you very quickly.
"It's been a fantastic start for me and I've enjoyed every minute of it but it will mean nothing at the end of this season if we haven't won the league."
The lanky hit-man scored as a substitute on his debut in a 5-1 Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
However, perhaps the most important contribution Samaras has made has been to keep the McDonald-Vennegoor of Hesselink partnership on a state of high alert.
McDonald has notched five and Vennegoor of Hesselink four since the arrival of the new boy.
The Australian international, who is hoping to add to his 24 goals to date against St Mirren at Love Street on Sunday, said: "Georgios has looked very impressive since he has been here.
"If he wasn't fully fit when he came then he is now.
"All he will be asking for is more time in games but Jan and I have probably frustrated him a little bit by our performances.
"Jan has been fantastic for us and it was disappointing to see him come off against Barcelona because I really thought he was making all the difference and giving them a lot of problems.
"Hopefully he will be fit for the weekend and give the gaffer a selection headache."
McDonald admits to having his best season in terms of goals but the former Motherwell striker was quick to commend the rest of the Celtic squad for his impressive tally to date.
He said: "I don't think I've ever scored this many goals in a season before.
"I'm really enjoying it but I think it's down to all my team-mates as well and the chances they create.
"I've always had the belief in front of goal that I can score goals, but I'm getting a lot more chances this year and I believe that's why I'm scoring as many as I am.
"I've sort of raised my game as well so it's a mixture of both really.
"But Celtic Park, in front of 60,000 fans, is a fantastic place to come and play and if you're not up to it they'll soon tell you very quickly.
"It's been a fantastic start for me and I've enjoyed every minute of it but it will mean nothing at the end of this season if we haven't won the league."
Copyright (c) Press Association
Related Articles
Meet the last Aussie standing at Celtic
It's a Kewell-Hutchinson double act at post-Muscat Marinos
