Celtic manager Gordon Strachan paid tribute to the ambition of Falkirk's teenage striker Anthony Stokes ahead of tonight's Scottish League Cup quarter-final tie against the Bairns at Parkhead.

The 18-year-old, who is signed on loan from Arsenal until January, is the talk of Scottish football after scoring his second hat-trick in a week on Saturday at Dunfermline.

The Republic of Ireland under-19 star has scored nine goals in his last four Scottish Premier League games and Strachan believes the striker deserves the accolades he has received.

Strachan said: "I haven't been able to get to games to see him but our scouts have watched him and we played against him recently.

"He has been doing fantastically well and coming up here from Arsenal has been a great move for him.

"It shows that if, as a kid, you are prepared to get out and about and not sit on your backside then people will notice you.

"Then you can launch a career and that's what he has done."