Celtic defender Mikael Lustig has insisted that the Parkhead side are determined to keep the momentum going when the return from the international break.

Brendan Rodgers’ side thumped St Johnstone last Sunday before the players went their separate ways to team up with their respective countries.

But having struggled for consistency this term, Lustig is optimistic that the manner of the win against the Perthshire can be the catalyst for Celtic forcing themselves back to the top of the league.

“If you lose a game, and then go away on international duty, it’s hard because you want to play straight away,” the Swede told the Celtic View, “But at the same time, when we play really well like we did against St Johnstone, of course we want to keep that going.

“Now we’ll go away, hopefully all the boys stay fit and we’ll come back and be ready for Hibs. Every game is a big game, it’s a really tight league at the moment, so it’s a big game and hopefully we can keep the good form going.”

Lustig was captain for the day in the absence of the injured Scott Brown but his focus was ensuring Celtic got the performance they wanted rather than enjoying the individual accolade of the armband.

“Everything clicked on Sunday,” he said, “but attack and defence always work together, so when we have a good defence, we’re attacking better, and we proved that against St Johnstone.

“We were really dangerous even when we didn’t have the ball, and we felt that if we could win the ball back in the right moment, we’d get chances and that proved to be the case Everyone took responsibility and if we do that and work as a team, we know what we’re capable of.”

Meanwhile, former Celt Georgios Samaras has retired from football. The 33-year-old has hung up his boots in order to take up a boardroom role with Greek side OFI The former striker has been touted to become the Greek outfit’s chief executive.

And Celtic kid Jack Aitchison has reportedly left Dumbarton to return to Celtic. The teenager joined Dumbarton on a loan deal which was due to run until January. The Sons sacked manager Steve Aitken this week and Aitchison, who became Celtic’s youngest ever goalscorer when he netted for the club in 2016 when he was still 16.