Bahrudin Atajic took his goal tally for the season to seven last night with a well taken hat-trick against Dundee United.
Either side of a penalty the 19-year-old cracked home the opener from 15 yards out before steering a well placed header into the net to complete a hat-trick.
Atajic was born in Sweden to Bosnian parents with Celtic spotting him playing for Malmo.
Towards the end of last season it looked likely that he would be moving on from Celtic with opportunities limited due to the form of Tony Watt with Liam Gormley and James Alabi as back up strikers.
When strikers get pushed back into midfield it’s usually means that they can no longer be trusted to find the net but by dropping a little deeper Atajic has developed a new edge to his game.
His quick feet and vision provide a great focus for his team-mates with John Kennedy delighted by the way his game has developed this season.
“It was three good goals from Bahridin and he’s in a rich vein of form,” Kennedy admitted. “He’s been on fire this season with goals.
“We knew that he had the ability but he was frustrated last season. It didn’t quite click for him but he’s hit the ground running this season from the first game that he’s played.
“He’s had a real variety of goals and it’s great to have a striker with hunger to hit the net. He has the ability and needs to continue his form.
“The manager has shown that if the young players do well he’ll bring them in when the time is right.
“Whether they are in the squad or getting on in games the manager has been really good with the young ones. He comes and watches the games when he can.”
Other than Atajic’s hat-trick there wasn’t much to please Kennedy about last night’s display.
Losing two goals in the last eleven minutes was possibly unfair but after praising the side in their opening three matches Kennedy didn’t spare any feelings as he looked back on the 90 minutes.
“That was as poor as we’ve been this season,” he added. “I thought that there was a lack of urgency although we scored three goals. The performance just wasn’t good enough.
“There are standards set at the club and the players never reached that. It’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong but we know that there’s a lot more in that team than they showed tonight.”
Celtic 1-0 Hamilton, Atajic
Motherwell 1-3 Celtic, Atajic, Fisher, Johnstone
Celtic 4-1 Hamilton Accies: Atajic2, Johnstone, P Twardzik
Celtic 3-2 Dundee Utd: Atajic 3
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