GARY HOOPER is being targeted by Queens Park Rangers, who believe he can fire them back into the Barclays Premier League.

But though he is now in the final year of his contract, the Hoops ace is aiming to be shooting for glory with Celtic when the new campaign kicks off against Cliftonville a week on Wednesday.

And the man who banged in 31 goals last term has set his sights on improving on that tally, which took his strike rate to a very impressive 82 since he joined the SPL champions three years ago.

At the club's training base in Germany, Hooper said: "I want to beat my tally from last season. That's the aim because I've done it every season.

"I also have to get 20 or more league goals because I didn't get it just there, I only got 19.

"And I want to play in the Champions League, get into the group stages and get that feeling again.

"We also want to retain the title as obviously the league is still our priority."

Hooper's scoring record has carried him to the verge of the England squad, and attracted serious interest from clubs in his homeland, including Southampton, Reading, Norwich, Hull and now QPR.

Southampton had a series of bids rejected last year, while Norwich were also knocked back in January and Premier League new boys Hull had a £4m offer rejected two weeks ago.

Celtic value the striker at a minimum £6m and are still trying to persuade Hooper to sign the new contract which has been on the table for several months.

But the 25-year-old is content to concentrate on continuing to work towards finding full fitness.

And, after making a second-half appearance as a sub against Sevastopol on Wednesday, Hooper is looking to start against Romanian side, CFR Cluj tonight.

He told the club's website: "I missed a week's training at Lennoxtown because I had a groin problem.

"But I'm back now, training every day since we've been over here and I feel fit.

"It's really hot here, so you need to let the ball do a lot of the work while we get the fitness up.

"We only had three weeks off, so the fitness isn't going to drop that much compared to other teams getting eight weeks off."

Hooper is also getting to know his new strike partner, Amido Balde, who he teamed up with at the start of the second half against Sevastopol in midweek.

The tall Portuguese recruit has already made a big impression on Hooper who said: "Amido is solid.

"He's a good player. He's quick, strong and had a good chance the other day that he should have put away."

James Forrest, Anthony Stokes, Georgios Samaras and Mikael Lustig are expected to come into contention for tonight's game.

Victor Wanyama and Tom Rogic, who reported back two days ago, could also feature.