Brendan Rodgers was delighted for Jota after the Celtic hero marked his return to the club with the late clincher at Fir Park, sparking emotional celebrations from the winger. And he says that the Portuguese can be even better for his team this time around.

Jota is still short of full match fitness, but showed enough in his late cameo to suggest that he has lost none of the magic that so endeared him to the Celtic supporters during his previous stints at the club.

Rodgers is excited at the prospect of working with Jota and trying to improve his level even further, a task he expects the player to attack with relish having now seen the other side of the game since his departure from Celtic.

“It was nice for him, a nice moment," he said.

“He was a superstar when he was here the first time and it's been a challenge for him, obviously, leaving, but he couldn't have wrote that any better.

“He's a wonderful player, he obviously has a way to go in terms of his fitness, but he's someone who can beat a man. He doesn't just look like a good player, he is a good player. He can beat a man, he's very effective.

“Once he gets up to fitness in terms of how I want him to press the game, he's going to be a fantastic player again.

“He's emotional. The journey that he's been on since being here and then leaving, just not having that feeling.

“It's a really, really difficult club when you come away from it, especially when you're a player like him, when you're adored to that level that he was when he was here the first time. He probably thought he was never going to feel that again.

“So, to come back and get the goal, and obviously the support, they idolise him.

“Just like for every player, you want to feel wanted, appreciated, and he knows he has that here.

“He knows the training ground is an internal culture which is based around respect. He has that, and obviously the supporters love him.

“Step by step, he needs to get to a level of fitness. But you can see in cameos like that, he's quality.

“It's all about the personal ambition. I think that he's had the sample now of two moves that hasn't quite worked out.

"He also has the feeling of probably a more realistic feeling of the actual size of the club, and what Celtic can give him.

“So, my feeling is that he'll come back even hungrier and be even better than he was the first time. Why? Because he knows what the other side looks like. And he probably won't recognise and realise how lucky he is at a club like this here.

“So yes, he can be, but it's all about the mentality. It's happened so many times, players go and still create and develop their legacy even more. So that's what I expect him to do."