Chris Sutton: 'Celtic will miss Gary Hooper'

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has challenged the club's strikers to fill the void left by Gary Hooper.

Hooper finished as Celtic's top scorer in each of his three seasons at the club before his move to Norwich City last week, leaving the Bhoys short of a prolific goalscorer for Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against Elfsborg.

Georgios Samaras, Anthony Stokes, Tony Watt and new signing Amido Balde are the only recognised strikers left at the club, and Sutton believes that manager Neil Lennon will be forced to dip into the transfer market to replace Hooper.

"They are going to miss Hooper, there is no doubt. They will miss his natural goalscoring, as any team would," he told reporters. "But it is up to somebody else to step up to the plate.

"The strikers they have are in a slightly different mould with Samaras, Stokes, Watt and the new lad Balde, who in fairness I haven't seen and can't comment on. But I suspect Neil will be looking at getting someone in."

Celtic could face a battle to keep another key player in the coming week after reports surfaced linking Cardiff City with a £3m move for midfielder Joe Ledley.