How To Get Noticed

Last updated : 09 August 2015 By ed_ScottishFitba

C:WindowsTempphp973C.tmpCeltic manager, Ronny Deila admitted he had no idea who Tom Rogic was when he first moved to the club - but has now hinted the Australian could have played his way into the Champions League line-up. Rogic scored his first goal for the club while making his first start in almost two years in the 2-0 win at Firhill, with a deft flick from Kris Commons securing the three points. The £400,000 signing from Central Coast Mariners has not been seen in a Celtic starting XI since the League Cup defeat by Morton back in September 2013. He was sent back to his homeland for a loan spell with Melbourne Victory ahead of last year's World Cup but fitness issues ruled him out of the finals and he was a permanent absentee in Deila's first season in Glasgow after a string of injury problems.

Deila said: "Tom was very good for the first 40 minutes. You can see what kind of talent he is with his touch of the ball and awareness. He has a lot of things that he can give to the team and I think we will see much more of him. When I came here I hadn't heard anything about him, so I didn't know who he was. He was injured the whole time for almost a year last season but once we got him started again I saw that he had something special. I told him he would never leave this club before he gets a real chance and now he is showing that he deserves that chance. I felt very sorry for Tom in my first eight months here when he just walked around not able to do anything because of injury. But he has the mentality to succeed. He was on the bench in Baku and yeah he has shown he is an option for our team (against Malmo)."

Celtic had a six-hour flight back from Azerbaijan on Wednesday night after edging out Qarabag in their Euro qualifier. That success took its toll on Scott Brown's hamstring - the captain did not make an appearance at Firhill - while Stuart Armstrong had to come off after 20 minutes with stiffness in his groin but the manager was delighted with the performance. He said: "I think the first 35 minutes was some of the best football we've played this season, but we got a little bit tired at the end of the second half and we were a little bit sloppy."

Thistle manager Alan Archibald said: "We didn't do enough, we didn't make it a battle. We probably showed them too much respect. Pogba came on and showed he gives us something a bit different. You can see centre-halves are a bit wary of him. We just need to make sure we get good service to him. I know it's hard for referees but it's either a penalty or not. There are too many grey areas. We have had the same decision go against us, which is frustrating. We just need to get on with it and move on."