Celtic's Aaron Mooy has been hailed as 'excellent' by rival pundit Alan Hutton after the midfielder's recent performances.

The Lowdown: Increased game time

Mooy was mainly utilised as an impact player at the beginning of the season, failing to complete a full 90 minutes in his first ten Scottish Premiership matches, after arriving at the club last summer.

More recently, however, the Australian has been given more game time, and he has scored in his last two starts, showing signs that he has really started to settle in, after a slow start at Celtic Park.

The Latest: Hutton reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, former Rangers man Hutton hailed the midfielder for his all-round performances in recent weeks, saying: “He has needed time because he had not played a lot of football before that. The manager put a lot of trust in him, he knew him as a player and knew what he was capable of.

I think giving him that time to settle in, we are now seeing the best of him. I thought on Sunday he was excellent. Not only his goal but his all over play, how hard he works, his vision. It is all there.

He is really going from strength to strength and he is a key part of that Celtic midfield now.

The Verdict: Vital player

In his last eight games in all competitions, the 32-year-old has scored six and assisted three, much-improved on a very slow start, in which he failed to register a single goal contribution in his first ten appearances for the club.

Earlier in the campaign, Stiliyan Petrov questioned some sloppy play from the central midfielder in the away defeat at St. Mirren, but Ange Postecoglou has been rewarded for sticking by his compatriot, who he will be hoping can maintain this form in the second half of the season.

Postecoglou is blessed with options in the engine room, with Reo Hatate also weighing in with four goals and six assists this season, but if Mooy keeps up his current form there is no reason why he cannot stake a claim as being one of the first names on the team sheet.