Celtic were without Giorgos Giakoumakis against Hibernian on Sunday, and teammate Matt O’Riley has compared him to Fulham goal machine Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Bhoys drew 0-0 at Hibs, failing to really hit top gear in a disappointing afternoon at Easter Road.
Ange Postecoglou has played down the absence of striker Giakoumakis as a factor in the stalemate, but it’s hard to ignore.
With Kyogo Furuhashi out injured too, Daizen Maeda was left to lead the Celtic attack and didn’t exactly look like a natural lone striker.
Postecoglou may think that Giakoumakis being out wasn’t a huge deal, but it robbed Celtic of the chance to go for something completely different up top.
The Greek striker is a physical threat, capable of manhandling defenders – especially tired ones!
Giakoumakis was superb against Dundee last month, bagging a hat-trick as he looks to finally provide consistent quality for Celtic.
That will surely come for the 27-year-old, who has shown glimpses but has had a few injury setbacks.
Giakoumakis has now earned huge praise from Celtic teammate Matt O’Riley, who has given the striker a lofty comparison.
Speaking to Herald Scotland, O’Riley suggested that Giakoumakis is ‘very similar’ in style to Fulham hitman Aleksandar Mitrovic.
O’Riley, a former Fulham man, knows exactly what Mitrovic can do.
The Serbian has smashed a ridiculous 34 goals in 31 Championship games, breaking the season record with months to spare.
Celtic would no doubt love even half of that from Giakoumakis, and O’Riley believes there are ‘definite similarities’ between the pair.
O’Riley added that Giakoumakis just gives Celtic something a little different, which will absolutely be needed whenever the summer signing from VVV-Venlo is fit again.
“I think their styles are very similar,” said O’Riley. “They’re both very strong and like to hold the ball up. When they’re in the box, they’re very sharp so there are definite similarities there.”
“Giorgos is a good option for us and he’s something different to (Daizen) Maeda and Kyogo (Furuhashi). It’s better to have different types of players up there. If we need to use his style in certain types of games, we can go to him,” he added.
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