LIAM SCALES is hoping that his goalscoring cameo at Tannadice can help him into the Celtic starting XI for Thursday night’s Europa League tie against Real Betis, as the Irishman looks to make his claim for a regular spot in Ange Postecoglou’s team.

Scales came off the bench to grab the third of Celtic’s three goals in the victory on Tayside, and he couldn’t hide his delight at being able to celebrate his strike with the travelling fans behind the goal.

With a packed fixture list in the lead-up to the winter break, Scales is hoping he has shown enough to force his way into manager Postecoglou’s plans.

“It was great,” Scales said. “As a defender you don’t get many chances to run on to the perfect ball on the edge of the box. I was just thinking, ‘shoot’ – thank god it went in!

“It just sat up perfectly for me. I was running at speed so it was just a case of directing it on target. I was buzzing it went in. It was a great feeling doing it right in front of the fans. I just kept running towards them. The reception I got was great, I was delighted.

“I didn’t [have anyone over] unfortunately, hopefully they were all watching on TV.

“My phone is hopping though, I’ll be on it all the way back to Glasgow replying to messages. It’s great, I’m delighted.

“It’s a massive month for us as a team and we are all in it together to make a proper push and hopefully collect as many points as we can. I obviously want to be a part of that.

“Hopefully that’s the case. December is a busy month so there will be changes and chances for everyone. I did my best out there today.”