ANGE POSTECOGLOU says Giorgos Giakoumakis is finally ready to accept the burden of scoring goals for Celtic after the Greek striker’s hat-trick sealed a vital three points in a hard-fought encounter against Dundee.

The visitors went ahead at Celtic Park before a Giakoumakis double looked to have swung the game in Celtic’s favour, only for Mark McGhee’s men to again level the match.

Giakoumakis came up with a late winner though to move Postecoglou’s side three points clear at the top of the Premiership, and the Celtic manager was delighted for his forward after a difficult start to life in Scotland.

“If you play as a striker at this club, you’ve got to carry the burden of being goalscorer,” Postecoglou said. “It’s as simple as that. There is no shying away from it.

“Everyone we have had in that position this year has delivered goals and he does as well.

“In games like today when we are not going to find a lot of space you need somebody with presence in the box to finish off our good deliveries. He missed a couple but scored three good goals.

"He was been going well for us, he hasn't got the rewards of goals which he has been a bit unlucky.

"It is why I brought him to the club. The way a lot of opposition set up against us with a lot of bodies in the box, you need presence in there, it's not as if we have a lot of space to run into.

"I know that's where his strengths lie and it is just a matter of him gaining a little bit of confidence -which he has.

“I think he has been really good for us the last few weeks. For all strikers, goals are important and today he was hugely important for us. With so many bodies in the box, he was able to find the space to score the goals."

Postecoglou is hoping that Giakoumakis’s rich vein of recent form – he has scored six of his seven goals for the club since the winter break – is a sign that he may be able to contribute even more to the cause in the run-in to the end of the season.

“There is more to come from all of them,” he said. “I know people love having conclusions to things but this team is newly built. All these guys are learning as we go along. Every experience is something unique for them.

“For two or three of them, Thursday night was their first European game. They are going to be better players after that because we will keep exposing them.

“For Giorgos, in his pre-season he was injured most of the time. He has only really got going since the break. “He is in the first couple of months of his Celtic careers so of course there is more to come from him.”

While delighted with the contribution of Giakoumakis to the win over Dundee, Postecoglou admitted that he was far from happy with the concession of another two goals to set-plays, with his side also conceding twice from set-pieces at Aberdeen recently.

“It’s a concern,” he said. “When we’re dominating a game so much, defending so well and keeping them away from goal… “Joe Hart didn’t have a save to make. I don’t think he even touched the ball with his hands. If they can just lob balls in the box and we concede, that’s not good.

“It’s something we need to address, have a little more conviction in our box, the same way we do in the opposition box.

“There are definitely lessons in there but that’s part of our continual improvement as a team. There are still areas we need to get better at and that’s one of them.”