Matt O'Riley has pinpointed the reasons he feels his Celtic season has flourished after he was nominated for PFA Player of the Year.

The Hoops midfielder has been the standout for the Premiership league leaders this term so far with an astounding 14 goals and 16 assists in all competitions for the club. O'Riley was among the four candidates for the award alongside Lawrence Shankland of Hearts and Rangers' James Tavernier and Jack Butland and the midfielder believes that's been down to his goal scoring improvements under Brendan Rodgers.

The Dane, 23, has notched double figures as mentioned and he feels he has taken that element of his game to new heights this season.

"Yeah it's been good, I think I've improved in taking my game to hopefully somewhat of another level this season which has probably been mainly due to a few more goals, to be honest," O'Riley told Sky Sports.

"I think my general game probably hasn't improved drastically but little details it's probably been the thing I've tried to add a little bit more.

"I can't say it's completely just that (the way he's been deployed by Rodgers after Ange Postecoglou). Obviously I've been on the pitch a bit longer which always helps. I'm fortunate enough to have played 90 minutes pretty much every game and I think quite a lot of my goals have been coming after 70-odd minutes. That's probably helped.

"The other thing's just that I feel significantly better mentally, a bit more free and naturally when you feel good out there it helps."

Atletico Madrid were previously interested in O'Riley this season and even had an official bid booted out in January. The midfielder has already openly addressed his struggles to push that speculation to one side, but he has now revealed that he told everyone around him to keep silent on any issues outside of Parkhead.

And that should keep his mind clear and fully focused on the title run-in.

"Yeah I have, to be fair. I've said that to my parents, agents, people that's even just within the club when naturally people want to talk about that. But I just think it's a big distraction especially when I still have a job to do here."