Celtic's Giakoumakis named Scottish Premiership player of the month for March

Giorgios Giakoumakis has been named the Scottish Premiership’s player of the month for March.

The Celtic forward scored five goals in just two starts last month as he helped the Hoops consolidate their position at the top of the league.

The 27-year-old, who was the top scorer in the Eredivisie last season, scored a double in a 3-0 win over Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter-final on March 14 before netting a hat-trick against Ross County in a 4-0 win five days later.

He now has 12 goals in just 13 starts for Celtic since joining from Dutch side VVV Venlo in the summer.

After leading the line in last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Rangers at Ibrox that gave Celtic a six-point lead over their rivals at the top of the league, he is now looking forward to the games ahead.

He said: “It was one more big derby, one more Old Firm, it was a tough game for us with a lot of passion, we gave everything, we didn’t play at our best, but eventually we won the game.

“It was really important for us to win this game and from now on we lead the race by six points, it’s not over yet but it is an advantage that we need to protect until the end by winning every single game.”

Giakoumakis sparked annoyance in the Rangers camp in February when he claimed Celtic were the strongest team in the league in every department.

Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack branded that claim “disrespectful” but Giakoumakis insists he was just stating his opinion at the time.

“I didn’t make those comments to make anyone angry or feel disrespected by me,” he said on Thursday.

“I said what I believed about my team. I believed at the time we were playing better as a team.

“That’s the only thing I said. I can say also now that we play very good football and I believe in my team. I don’t think it is bad for a player to say their team is the best.”

The award comes on the back of manager Ange Postecoglou winning his third manager of the month award in a row.

Celtic play St Johnstone this weekend before next Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Rangers.

Six games remain in the race for the Premiership title.