What Celtic will be 'hoping' for during rest of transfer window as Champions League onus sets Rodgers a task

Former Celtic player Aiden McGeady has said he wants to see the Hoops ‘compete’ in Europe this season.

The Hoops won their opening Scottish Premiership clash 4-0 against Kilmarnock after goals by Reo Hatate, Liam Scales, Nicholas Kuhn and Anthony Ralston. Brendan Rodgers’ side have got their first three points on the board nice and early as they look to keep their momentum. They won the title last term ahead of rivals Rangers and will be hoping to do the same again this time around.

McGeady, who played for Celtic from 2004 to 2010, isn’t worried about the league and can see his former employers claiming top spot again. He is more concerned about how they perform in the Champions League now.

He has said, as per BBC Sport: “From the first five minutes, they were totally dominant and never wavered from that. It was a routine and totally dominant display, and they’ve carried on from what they done in pre-season. There was a lot of really good performances then.

“You can never get carried away with games in pre-season because it’s not competitive football but they’ve taken that form into the first game, and that’s all you can hope for as a fan. The league doesn’t really worry me about Celtic, but the onus is on them this season, I think, to take that form in to the Champions League.”

He added: “I think you’d still be hoping for a few additions, but Celtic are in a really good place just now. But, I think just about every fan will want to see that form replicated in Europe and actually go to that next step and not just be part of it in Europe, but to actually compete.”

As McGeady alluded to, Celtic could do with some more signings before the end of the window. They need strong competition and depth to deal with playing in Europe as well.

The 38-year-old is still playing for Ayr United under Hoops favourite Scott Brown. He has also had spells in the past at Spartak Moscow, Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End, Sunderland, Charlton Athletic and Hibernian.

He rose up through the ranks at Celtic and went on to make 252 appearances in all competitions, firing 37 goals. The ex-Republic of Ireland international won the title four times and also got his hands on the Scottish Cup and League Cup.

The Hoops are back in action this weekend with an away trip to Easter Road to lock horns with Hibs. Rodgers was pleased with the performance against Kilmarnock and said: “It was a very good performance. You wish for that.

“We had seen signs over the course of pre-season, the co-ordination in the team and how it all synchronised, and the idea is that you’re working towards that first game. So that first game today was an excellent performance.

“The game-plan was to make the game as quick as we could and use that speed and obviously to penetrate in behind – sometimes you need to speed up the game and play in front – so I’m so pleased, especially at this stage of the season.”