A spot of darts has cemented the relationship between Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair off the field, but it is on the pitch where the duo have hit bullseye.

Tierney made his return following a three-month injury lay-off during the weekend win over Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup with the Scotland internationalist teeing up Sinclair for the opening goal.

And the Englishman, who has netted 13 goals so far this season for Celtic, has echoed Brendan Rodgers’ sentiments that Tierney is a player destined to feature at the very top level.

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“I think KT is a great young player and I’m happy that he’s back,” said Sinclair. “We both know each other’s game inside out so it’s great for the both of us and for the team that he’s back in.

“We’ve got a good relationship off the pitch as well. We play darts now and then and we get on so well. You can see that on the pitch.

“At the moment, I can’t say...okay, at the moment he’s a couple of games up! It started as a bit of banter in training and when we finished one morning, we ended up playing darts after lunch. His arm is better now, so he’s improving!

“He can be as good as he wants to be. He’s playing at such a young age and for any young player, when you are playing week in, week out, you can show your attributes and your quality. He’s been doing that and he can only get better.

“He is definitely a very grounded kid and I’m sure he’s going to keep improving and keep enjoying his football.”

If Sinclair continues in the same vein he could conceivably hit the 20-goal mark this term, an impressive return form a midfield performer.

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And the 27-year-old has insisted that being among the goals was always one of his aims when he arrived at Celtic.

“For me, it’s just about being consistent,” he said. “When I first came here, I wasn’t just going to score one week and then not score for another four games.

“The most important thing for me is to be consistent throughout the whole season. I feel much sharper now.

“I’ve had a nice break, as everyone else has had, and I’m going into the second half of the season feeling much better and ready to go again and try to score more goals than I did in the first part of the league.”