MOUSSA Dembele, the Celtic striker who was yesterday named the Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Month for February, believes he is a better player now than at the start of the season.
The French 20-year-old lifted the award after scoring six goals – including a hat-trick after coming off the bench in the second half against St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park – in just three league games.
Dembele sprang to prominence in the first Glasgow derby of the 2016/17 campaign at Parkhead back in September when he became the first Celtic player since Stevie Chalmers in 1966 to score a hat-trick in a league game against Rangers.
However, the forward, who took his tally for the season to 32 with his goal in the 4-1 Scottish Cup win over St. Mirren last weekend, feels that both he and his side have improved since that emphatic 5-1 triumph.
“I have developed a lot from the first day I came in here,” he told the official Celtic website. “I have learned a lot alongside the manager and the players here. It’s been a good season so far for me and the Celtic team.
“I can’t say one aspect of my game has improved more than the other one. I am young so I try to learn from everyone and every aspect of the game is important.”
Dembele - who is, barring a late injury, set to lead the line for Celtic in their game against Rangers at Parkhead this Sunday – is keen to add to his haul of goals between now and the end of the campaign.
“Until the end of the season it’s not finished,” he said. “So I try to think every game is a new challenge and I try to give 100 per cent in every game. I will score as many goals as I can, but I will just take myself game-by-game.
“I just focus on my football and we will see what happens at the end. Football is the only thing on my mind. I just have to keep going and working the way I am.”
The pressure on Dembele on Saturday will, despite his tender years, be intense due to his success in the matches against Rangers this term.
As well as the three goals he scored on his debut in the fixture, he netted a late winner in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden in October and the equaliser in the 2-1 victory at Ibrox in December.
But the former Fulham player is undeterred by the high level of expectation on his shoulders. “I’m looking forward to the game like I look forward to any other game this season,” he said. “It’s another game of football and we have to make sure we prepare like any other game and be ready. There’s no extra pressure to put on ourselves.
“I just treat the game as a normal game of football. I love the atmosphere of the big games and I’m always ready for it. As a young kid you dream about being part of these big games. I just enjoy the moment, give 100 per cent and show people what I can do on the pitch."
Looking back on the September game against Rangers, Dembele said: “It was a big moment in my Celtic career. It was my first hat-trick as a professional footballer and my first league goals for Celtic, so it was a good day to remember. But it’s gone now and we have another game on Sunday.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here