Martin O’Neill expects Celtic and Brendan Rodgers to right main wrong this summer

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Celtic are in a good spot right now.

On the pitch the Hoops have established their dominance over every other club in Scotland and off the pitch it is a whole different ballgame at Celtic Park than anywhere else.

It is a 16-point lead Celtic have at the top of the Scottish Premiership while financially Celtic are streets ahead of Rangers while also being among Europe’s elite for pre-tax profit according to a UEFA report.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	29	24	3	2	87	17	70	75
2	RangersRangers	29	18	5	6	59	26	33	59
3	HibernianHibernian	29	11	10	8	44	40	4	43
4	AberdeenAberdeen	29	12	6	11	38	46	-8	42
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	29	11	8	10	36	36	0	41
6	MotherwellMotherwell	29	11	4	14	34	48	-14	37

All this to say it has been a strong season so far for Brendan Rodgers and his squad despite some alarm bells ringing back in January.

Celtic failed to sign a striker in the January transfer window to properly replace Kyogo. That left just Adam Idah who has tailed off a tad with Daizen Maeda picking up the slack with an incredible return of 26 goals and nine assists from 40 appearances.

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Martin O’Neill backs Celtic to sign a striker in summer

Maeda has shown up well through the middle but former manager Martin O’Neill believes he won’t have to do that next season.

Celtic know they need a striker to compete both domestically and in the Champions League and O’Neill feels that will be a priority of Rodgers as well as his scouting and recruitment staff to find one to come in and make a difference.

Speaking to SportsBoom O’Neill said: “I’m sure it’s [a new striker is] something they’ll look at in the next few months and moving forward for next season.

“But at the minute, certainly domestically, I don’t think it’s going to affect them.”

“That’s not to say they’re not going to drop a couple of points, because they may well do, but from a distance you have to say that Rangers have become incapable of going away from home and being able to win games which they would have normally done in previous seasons.”

Which strikers have Celtic been linked to?

O’Neill understands more than most that Celtic don’t necessarily need a big-money attacker to win trophies in Scotland but it’s in Europe where they’ll need the help.

Idah and Maeda have both scored Champions League goals this term with the Japanese breaking a goals record in the competition.

But to progress further – or at least maintain their current status – cash will have to be spent.

Celtic have been linked with multiple strikers and definitely had the chance to bring one in back in January. But even chairman Peter Lawwell admitted Celtic were frustrated not to.