BHOYS & THEIR POISE

Nygren reckons win over Well can be springboard for Celts to hit their straps after break and chase down top spot

- BY MICHAEL GANNON

CELTIC have made a spluttering start to the season but Benjamin Nygren is convinced the Hoops will hit top gear after the international break - and top spot too.

The Swede came off the bench to blast his fourth goal of the season in Sunday's dramatic 3-2 victory against Motherwell.

It may only be the start of October but Daizen Maeda's stoppage-time winner felt like a major moment in the Celtic campaign.

Trailing Premiership pacesetters Hearts with a fuming support verging on an all-out mutiny, the last-gasp climax prompted a Parkhead celebration and saved another almighty protest. Nygren could feel it too.

Celtic have lost just one match in regulation time all season - the 2-0 Europa League loss to Braga - but it's not exactly been champagne flowing so far.

The Hoops have already drawn a blank in five matches - as many as they did in all of last season - and had been held five times in 12 games going in to Sunday's Well clash.

Maeda's intervention saved another stalemate but with late goals against St Mirren and Kilmarnock, Celts have been force to bite and scratch their way to results at a time of year they are used to cruising.

There are plenty of reasons why.

The summer recruitment was a shambles, leaving the squad with few options up front and on the right wing, and the new faces that did arrive are still settling in, while others have been barely seen.

Nygren has made an impact since his £1.7million move from Nordsjaelland and he insisted Celts are finding their feet and it won't be long before the squad are fully up and running.