Neil Lennon told Celtic fans to expect to see more of Amido Balde after the big striker came off the bench to score the clincher in the 2-1 Scottish Premiership victory over Partick Thistle at Firhill.
The 22-year-old, born in Bissau but who has represented Portugal at under-20 level, has been consigned mostly to the bench since signing from Vitoria Guimaraes in the summer for a reported fee of around £1.7million on a four-year deal.
Balde scored after coming off the bench in a 5-2 win against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in September but he proved to be the difference in Maryhill, after Jags striker Kris Doolan had cancelled out the first-half opener from Georgios Samaras.
However, in the 75th minute Balde, on for Beram Kayal nine minutes earlier, finished off a solo run by sliding the ball past Partick keeper Scott Fox to leave the Hoops unbeaten in the league this season.
The Celtic boss said: “We know what we have got with Amido. He knows and we know that he is here for the long haul and we are going to try to polish off the rough edges that he has.
“He understands where he is within the squad and he will be a good player for Celtic. I have maintained that as the season progresses we will see more of Amido.”
Lennon admitted he was concerned about the head knock Emilio Izaguirre suffered in blocking a shot from Christie Elliott and which led to him coming off on a stretcher.
Samaras also came off with a gash on his knee with five minutes remaining to leave the visitors playing out the game with 10 men, after using all three substitutes.
Jags boss Alan Archibald said “We ran the champions very close and created some good chances. I think if we play like that against most other teams we won’t be far away.”