BRENDAN Rodgers hailed Scott Sinclair after the Celtic attacker joined Hoops hero Jimmy McGrory in the record books with his goal in the 2-2 draw at Inverness.
The 27-year-old attacker scored for the fifth successive Ladbrokes Premiership game with a curling shot from the edge of the box after Tom Rogic’s opener for the visitors had been cancelled out by Billy King.
Sinclair, who joined from Aston Villa in the summer, became the first Celtic player to achieve that feat since McGrory, who played for the club between 1922 and 1937 and later went on to manage them, in the 1934/35 season, although substitute Alex Fisher’s first goal for Inverness in the 89th minute led to a share of the points.
Hoops boss Rodgers said: “If he ends up like Jimmy he will be all right – he will be in the Celtic Musical (a current show about the club).
“You can see he is quality. His ability to take the ball up the field quickly is there and he has a hunger to score goals. It was a wonderful finish.
“He is 27, not so many miles on the clock, but you see his speed and natural finishing ability and he will be disappointed he hasn’t scored more today.
“He is enjoying his life in Scotland, loves playing for Celtic and will be a player who will go and be a great servant for the club.” Sinclair said: “I wasn’t aware of it (the record) until someone told be after the game.
“It is a good achievement, but you want to come off scoring goals and winning games really.
“I just got into every game looking to create and score goals, but the main thing is getting three points.”
Inverness can put their point, which takes them off the bottom of the table, down mostly to a manof-the-match performance from goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams, while Celtic moved three points clear of Hearts at the top with a game in hand.
Rodgers said: “I thought we deserved the three points, but give credit to Inverness they kept going. We were disappointed to concede so late.
“He (Fon Williams) deserved it, he made some great saves and at 2-1 you need that third goal.”
The biggest talking point of the game came at 1-1 in the first half when Inverness midfielder Ross Draper went to ground inside the Celtic area after a challenge by the back-tracking Erik Sviatchenko.
Referee Don Robertson ignored what appeared to be a good penalty claim.
Inverness boss Richie Foran thought the challenge was outside the box, but claimed the official still should have taken action.
He said: “I think it is outside the box, it is a clear free-kick which leads to a clear sending-off.
“It changes the whole outlook of the game, down to 10 men and gives us a boost and it is a disappointing decision. I think that’s when you need brave referees.
“Ross has pushed the ball in front of the player and out his body in front of him and has been wiped out. It was clear for everyone to see.
“We had a chat and he didn’t think Ross had control of the ball.
“In fairness, we have the luxury of seeing it back on television and he has made the wrong decision.”
Rodgers said: “I haven’t seen it again, but they say some people have watched it eight times and are unsure.”
