Many Celtic fans had already written Giorgos Giakoumakis off after a disappointing start to his Parkhead career, which had seen the Greek striker spend the majority of his time on the sidelines as he suffered one injury after another. And when he was on the pitch, he did not seem particularly impressive either, although he did provide a very different option to what Ange Postecoglou had available to him up front.

Right now though, Celtic find themselves depending on Giakoumakis to deliver with Kyogo and Albian Ajeti out with injuries and Daizen Maeda away on international duty with the Japan national team.

Thus, if he can remain fit, it is more than likely that Giakoumakis will be the one leading the line for Celtic against the Rangers in the upcoming Glasgow Derby. And fortunately, his recent performances have been cause for some hope.

Giakoumakis had scored against Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Cup and then, scored an important goal against Hearts as well in Celtic’s 2-1 win. As reported by The Scotsman, Postecoglou said after the game:

“He had a tough first half of the year for sure.

“[But you talk] about character and mentality.

“He worked hard to get himself fit during the little break we had. We gave the guys a few days off but he kept going along with James [Forrest] and Chris Jullien to be ready and I thought he was great.

“He scored not just a great goal but worked awfully hard and he had to because unfortunately at the moment we don’t have somebody to give him a bit of a breather towards the end. But I think he is showing people why I brought him to the football club. He has a presence about him and in the box he can score goals.”

Celtic fans should be delighted with Giakoumakis’ performance vs Hearts

It is safe to say that the situation is not ideal for Celtic with multiple players unavailable up front. But, Giakoumakis’ performance against the Hearts should give them a lot of cause for optimism.

The best part about the display was how hard he worked for the team. And his goal was that of a true fox in the box-type striker.

It is already proven that on the top of his game, Giakoumakis can scored consistently. He showed that by topping the Eredivisie scoring charts last season while playing for VVV-Venlo. And now, he has scored in back-to-back games for Celtic as well. Hopefully, he will be able to build on this new found momentum and also remain fit moving forward.

This article was originally posted here