BREAKING NEWS : celtic’s Matt O’Riley silenced the conversation with….

Was that the ideal way to begin?

At an establishment such as this, it helps to score early. The mood is rather antagonistic, which deters the crowd. We really took control of the game after that, especially in the first 30 minutes. I felt that we were comfortable.

Have you scored more goals than that?

Perhaps; I’m not sure. Not at Celtic, but maybe a bit back. It was pleasant.

You made it look easy, did you not?

I just felt comfortable with it. I saw it early, I made the run early, and I know that Luis has got that ball in his locker, he’s shown that in the last few games. We kind of spoke about that before the game, where to run and attack the space, and then you just make good contact.

Is that a sign of your newfound confidence?

I wouldn’t say I feel more confident than normal, I just feel more open when I’m on the pitch. I’m more comfortable trying things and I’m not worried about messing stuff up, and I think that is being reflected at the moment.

Have you ever been a goal machine?

When I was younger, yeah, coming through the Fulham academy, I used to score quite a lot of goals. So, it was something that I always knew and was aware of that I was able to do. I don’t know what my best tally is, when I was 13 or 14 I probably scored about 30-odd goals, but I’m not sure it’s the same as men’s football! But that would be nice.

Have you set yourself a target?

No, I haven’t set any targets in terms of numbers, I’m not really thinking about numbers at all at the moment if I’m being honest. I actually forget quite often when people ask me, which I think is a good sign as I’m solely focused on improving my all-round game. I think goals just come as part of that.

You are the top scorer in the Scottish Premiership, do you have any fun with Kyogo about that?

We haven’t even joked about it once to be fair! He’s too down to earth and I’m probably not the kind of guy that would nibble on it either. We’ve got a very good relationship, I think that shows on the pitch as well. Neither of us would try to be selfish and try to score ourselves, it’s all about what is the best decision for the team in that moment. I think that is reflected in the way we play.”

Does it help having the likes of Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate beside you?

Callum and Reo, even Paolo (Bernardo) and Tommo (Iwata) when they came on. Tommo’s goal was pretty amazing for a holding mid, and I thought Paolo was really good when he came on as well, with some really nice touches. We’ve got a really good squad depth throughout our whole team, to be honest. There are six or seven boys who aren’t even here today on the bench, and they are top, top players, so that shows the strength of the squad. That’s going to be helpful throughout a long, hard season.

Can this team get better?

Definitely, I think you could see today and in the Kilmarnock game that things were much more fluid for the most part. At the start of the season, there were some worries that it wasn’t looking that fluid, but I think now we are in a place where that is really starting to show. Hopefully, we can keep getting better in that regard.