Celtic managed to navigate their way through a tricky Scottish Cup away game, winning 2-0 against St Mirren to book their place in the next round of the competition. Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring for Brendan Rodgers' side and Daizen Maeda scored the second one after the break to put the match beyond the hosts.
There is another player who has been getting a lot of plaudits after the game though. It is none other than Celtic's veteran number one Joe Hart.
Hart has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism in recent times. He has showcased some impressive form after the winter break though and kept Celtic in games at times by making key saves.
In fact, Neil Lennon appears to believe that the English goalkeeper does not get a lot of credit. As reported by Football Scotland, the former Celtic captain and manager said:
"Joe Hart has been brilliant, certainly since we came back after the break. Aberdeen, big saves at Hibs and that was another tremendous save at a really crucial time. He’s really looking after the team at the minute with his experience and his class.
"You can see him cajoling the centre-halves and talking to his fullbacks even at the set play towards the end, he really organises his defence and he’s really shown as experience.
"He doesn’t get a lot of credit because he doesn’t really have a lot to do at times. He’s really stood up in the last three or four games and shown his qualities."
Lennon claims one Celtic player does not get enough credit
Hart does deserve all the plaudits that he has been getting lately. The Englishman has been superb in the last few games.
His current deal is set to run out in the summer, when he will be 37 years of age. If he continues performing like this moving forward, an extension cannot be out of question to be honest.
Of course, Celtic do need to sign a long-term goalkeeper as soon as possible. Hart is not going to be that. But he seems to be showing that he still is capable of being a positive contributor to this team.
It remains to be seen how Celtic handle the goalkeeping situation at the club in the summer. Currently there is no doubt that Hart is one of their better performers and hopefully, that will raise the games of those around him as well.