TOM Rogic was today tipped to finally fulfil his potential and establish himself at Celtic this season – by the former Rangers captain who has helped to guide his embryonic career.

Rogic made his first start for the Parkhead club in nearly two years in the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Partick Thistle at Firhill on Sunday.

And the Australian internationalist grasped his opportunity firmly with both hands by netting the opening goal - his first for the Hoops - in a comfortable 2-0 victory for the Scottish champions.

It was a huge moment for a 22-year-old who has struggled to achieve full fitness and find form since signing from Central Coast mariners in a £400,000 transfer in 2013.

The attacking midfielder returned home to play for A League club Melbourne Victory on loan at the beginning of last year - then spent all of last season sidelined with a groin injury.

However, the skilful player was involved with Ronny Deila’s side in pre-season friendlies against Den Bosch and Dukla Prague this summer.

And he has also been on the bench for many of their competitive fixtures this term – including in Champions League qualifiers.

Craig Moore, the former Rangers defender who has monitored Rogic’s development in his role as an elite player mentor with the Football Federation Australia, reckons his compatriot’s career is well ahead of schedule.

Moore himself arrived in Glasgow as a raw 19-year-old back in 1994 and managed to break into the first team at Ibrox during his very first season.

But he believes it took him another five years in order to properly establish himself and reckons the best is still to come from .

“I debuted in my first season and was involved in some capacity every year that I was at Rangers after that,” he said.

“But realistically it took me six years to establish myself and become a first 11 player at Ibrox. It certainly didn’t happen overnight.

“I played at my best when I had matured. I had to serve an apprenticeship. I worked my way up and put myself in a position where I was one of the first 11 names down on the team sheet. But I was thankful for that because I think that enabled me to have a career.”

The 39-year-old, now Head of Football Operations at Brisbane Roar, has predicted Rogic is ready to push on and become an indispensable player for Deila after emerging from a trying spell at Celtic.

“I am really interested to see what will happen now Tommy is injury free and has got a good pre-season under his belt at Celtic because I believe he is a really, really good talent,” he said.

“He has just been unlucky with injuries. I know for a fact he will certainly give it every possibility to make the most of his opportunity. He will certainly try his backside off. He is a good kid.

“For a team like Celtic, where you are dominating most of your games, especially at home, then that will suit Tommy in that position that he plays at an attacking midfielder. It is a good fit. He just needs a little bit of luck.

“Domestically Celtic have the majority of possession and spend most of the game attacking. The kind of attacking midfielder or No.10 that Tommy is means he’ll get a lot of joy there and will cause opposition teams a lot of problems. I am sure he will score goals. He has the ability to go by people. For a big fellow he has got really good feet.

“In life sometimes you just need that turn of fortune. All of a sudden things can change and you never know where things will take you. Fingers crossed this is the start of something for Tommy.”

A change of manager and football philosophy at Celtic will not have helped Rogic - he was signed when Neil Lennon was in charge and Deila confessed on Sunday that he had no idea who the player was when he took over last year.

Moore, who also played for Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga and Newcastle United in the Premier League in England, believes his countryman has both the technical expertise and the belief he needs to excel both in Scotland and in European competition.

Moore added: “Going to Celtic was a big, big move for Tommy. He didn’t join on the back of a lot of football. Although he was at the Nike Academy and did well in Australia at Central Coast Mariners, he hadn’t played a lot of games.

“You go to Europe and the rigours of potentially three games a week can be difficult. He has been little bit unfortunate in that he has been stop start and hasn’t had that luck of a clear run at it. Off the back of a not a lot of football, that has been difficult for him.

“But mentally he is a very, very strong kid. Most importantly, he has got talent. If Celtic are patient and give him a chance he will be like a new signing for them.

“I spent time with the team leading into the World Cup last year. Unfortunately, we had to let Tommy go out of the squad because he wasn’t fit. If he was fit he would have been at the World Cup and the Asian Cup as well most likely.

“But I had a lot of conversations with Tommy and over Christmas I caught up with him when I was back in Glasgow as well. In my old role, I tried to keep in contact with all of the boys as much as I could.

“He was in good form. Considering not a lot had gone for him in his time there he was in a really good head space. I thought: ‘You know what? You’re a tough kid and I’m sure you’re going to get your breaks. You just need a little bit of luck’.

“There have been changes I guess in terms of the way things are perceived at Celtic and the type of football that is being played. A new manager has come in and a lot of the off-field stuff, in terms of nutrition and the medical set-up, has altered.

“But, look, Tommy is somebody who Celtic know has got talent and just hasn’t had the opportunity yet. He will leave nothing behind and he will give it everything he’s got.”