Keane could double tally, says Mowbray

Tony Mowbray has backed Robbie Keane to double his goal tally before the end of the season.

The Celtic forward’s second-half penalty in the 3-0 win over St Johnstone at Parkhead on Saturday was his ninth goal in nine games since arriving on loan from Tottenham at the end of January.

With nine SPL games remaining, and a Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibernian or Ross County to come, Mowbray is expecting more goals from Keane.

The Hoops manager said: “A goal a game? I think so.

“He could have scored more than the penalty kick against St Johnstone.”

Teenage defender Josh Thompson scored his first goal for the Hoops since signing from Stockport last summer to give them a half-time advantage before Keane netted the penalty.

Substitute Georgios Samaras, on for Marc-Antoine Fortune, completed the scoring with three minutes remaining.

Saints manager Derek McInnes saw additions to his lengthy injury list as Kenny Deuchar limped off with an ankle injury after only 15 minutes and Steven Milne pulled a hamstring.

However, he quickly turned his thoughts to the game against Falkirk in midweek.

He said: “We have five games before the split, three of those at home and we have an opportunity on Tuesday to get ourselves further away from the bottom club and also help our case to pull in Hearts.”