Sebastian Tounekti says Celtic performance in Europa League win over Sturm Graz is boost ahead of Hearts clash

Celtic winger Seb Tounekti says their performance in the comeback win over Sturm Graz can be used as a springboard to a successful season.

The Hoops delivered a much-improved performance in the second half of their Europa League clash on Thursday night as they fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 in Parkhead.

They will now be hoping that can be a spark to reignite what has been a stuttering campaign so far as they prepare for a top-of-the-table clash with in-form Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.

Tounekti has been one of the few positives for Celtic in a lacklustre start to the season since his move from Hammarby on transfer deadline day.

But he believes he has seen enough to be confident that Brendan Rodgers’ side can go on a long winning run once it all starts to click into place, and believes they can now start moving in the right direction after the win over the Austrian champions.

Speaking after the game, he said: “It was a really important win, everyone knows that our results haven’t been the best recently, so this was a ‘must-win’ and really important, so we are really happy to take the three points.

“It is a confidence boost for us, we know that we are a good squad and we just have to get going. To get the points in a European night at Celtic Park is massive and I hope this can be an inspiration for all of us to just keep going in the right direction now.

“We have so many big games coming up now, so we just have to keep going.

“It will be a massive game on Sunday, we will come up against a good team who have been playing really well, so we have to be at our best, and tonight was a big step in the right direction. It is a really big game on Sunday, but we will go there to win.

“A win like this can be a spark to the team, so I hope that every player can take confidence and the positives from it.

“We know we have a good squad, but we have a lot of new players still getting to know each other, so we just have to find our rhythm, and when we do that we know we are going to win a lot of games, and have a really good season, I am sure about that.”