As Celtic breezed to a rather comfortable 3-0 win at home to Livingston on Wednesday evening, one standout figure among Ange Postecoglou's ranks was that of Matt O'Riley, with the elegant midfielder having staked his claim for a more regular role in the games to come.

The former MK Dons gem - who arrived at Parkhead on a £1.5m deal a year ago - had gone into that clash with David Martindale's men amid what has arguably been the first rocky patch of his spell in Glasgow to date, having been ousted from the starting lineup due to the impressive displays of summer signing, Aaron Mooy.

In the words of his manager, the latter man has been in "outstanding" form since returning from World Cup duty with Australia, having been a truly "immense" figure for his country in Qatar - according to journalist Josh Bunting.

The 32-year-old playmaker's impact had seen him rack up six goal involvements in his previous six Scottish Premiership outings heading into last night's encounter, having also netted twice in the Scottish Cup victory over second-tier outfit, Greenock Morton.

That rampant hot streak ensured that the experienced ace was afforded a well-earned rest for the visit of Livi, although the 57-cap maestro has seemingly been warned that his recent starting berth is no more certainty moving forward, such was the impressive outing of his replacement, O'Riley.

The Danish U21 international had only started two of the last four league games since the derby - as well as only featuring off the bench in the cup meetings with both Morton and Kilmarnock - ahead of facing the West Lothian outfit, with it having been a "big chance" for the 22-year-old to remind any potential doubters of his quality, as per journalist Ryan McGinley.

It would appear that the silky starlet more than took that opportunity, having notably played his part in the home side's opener after delivering a delightful, whipped cross into the penalty area that eventually found its way in following a ricochet off teammate, Daizen Maeda.

That moment of quality was then followed by another key contribution to tee up Kyogo Furuhashi's 18th league goal of the season, as the one-time Fulham youth product produced a stunning, lofted pass from deep to set the Japanese forward in on goal.

Although the youngster had squandered possession in the build-up to that assist - having lost the ball on 24 occasions in total from his 64 touches - the £12k-per-week menace showed excellent tenacity to atone for that error, proving that he can put in the hard yards defensively, as well as provide quality service in the final third.

That involvement also ensures that O'Riley now has nine assists to his name in the top flight already this season, with that remarkable tally the highest of any player in the division - including Mooy (6).

Such a strong outing - which saw the London-born ace record a solid, 7.2 match rating, as per Sofascore - has illustrated that the 6 foot 2 ace will not simply relinquish his place in the side without a fight.

Despite all of Mooy's brilliance of late, the one-time Huddersfield Town man will now be aware that he has real stern competition to be the creative hub in Postecoglou's side.