Juninho believes Celtic supporters are ready to see the best of him, but he urged them not to expect an avalanche of goals after netting his first for the club in a 3-0 win over Hearts on Saturday.

The Brazilian missed a sitter at Dundee United a fortnight ago but made amends with a cool finish at Parkhead. He admits it took him longer than expected to settle but feels his best form is just around the corner.

"It takes time to adapt to the other players but I feel that I'm getting better all the time," said Juninho. "They also have to get used to me, but I am beginning to work out what the manager wants from me and I am getting to find more space on the park now.

"When you score people always look at you in a different way, but I always said that I'm not a great goalscorer. I am a playmaker, but it is always good to take a few opportunities in games and it was important for me to score."

Henri Camara and John Hartson also hit the net, while David Marshall saved a Steven Pressley penalty as Celtic warmed up for their Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk game with a victory.

But Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu had bad news for Martin O'Neill, warning that the Scottish champions will be facing a better teenager than Wayne Rooney in the crunch match.

Donetsk's Romanian forward Ciprian Marica, who is 19, will line up against the Hoops in Ukraine with praise of his coach ringing in his ears.

Lucescu said: "Marica is much better than Rooney. Ciprian is ambitious, has wonderful technique and is so fast.

"He has good control and could become one of the world's best players."

Meanwhile, two goals from Dado Prso handed Rangers a 2-0 win at Motherwell yesterday to leave the Glasgow side five points behind Celtic.

The Croatian striker raced clear to slam the opener on six minutes and finished off the home side when he scored from Nacho Novo's pass seven minutes from time.