NORMAL service has been resumed for Anthony Stokes.

This time last year, he was coming to terms with being ruled out of action for the first five months of the season, the result of an ankle injury picked up in a friendly against Inter Milan.

Now, the Hoops hotshot has fired his way back into joint-pole position in the club's scoring stakes, alongside Euro specialist Georgios Samaras and play-off hero James Forrest, and is already helping to fill the void left by the departure of Gary Hooper.

Stokes wants to add to his three-goals-from-two-league-starts when Celtic face Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday, their final prep game for the opening Champions League tie with AC Milan. And, if the Irishman feels any extra pressure to keep hitting the target, now Hooper has gone to Norwich, he is hiding it well.

"Other people might think there is (more pressure on his shoulders), but I don't think I've changed my game as I'm still doing the same things," he told the Celtic View.

"There's probably a little bit more of a burden. If you lose a 30-goal striker, any team would struggle to replace that right away."

Stokes does not believe all the onus rests on his shoulders, however, and is happy to share the workload with new Bhoys, Amido Balde and Teemu Pukki.

He said: "We have new lads coming in, so, hopefully, they can contribute.

"We've qualified for the Champions League, and we're doing well in the league, so we want to continue that and improve."

The man who has now notched 51 goals since arriving at the club three years ago is not about to rest on his laurels, and has set a simple target for the season - to score as many as possible with 25-30 his aim.

But Stokes added the caveat: "It all comes down to how often you play, though, as I have to get into the team every week to hit the targets I expect."