Scotland's top sports team look back at the weekend drenching for Dundee United and Rangers. Matthew Lindsay, Bert Mitchell and Thomas Jordan also look ahead to Rangers in Bucharest and Celtic in Hamburg.

NIALL McGINN believes Celtic's 3-0 win against Kilmarnock has provided a vital boost to their confidence ahead of the make-or-break Europa League match in Hamburg on Thursday night.

McGinn scored his first ever goal for the Hoops as they moved three points clear at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with victory on Saturday. ONE BY ONE By Ronnie Cully

ZALUSKA Unfazed If standing in for the injured Boruc was always as easy as this, he could play until he was 60.

HINKEL Excellent At last he is showing why he has won more than 20 caps for Germany. Sound in defence and terrific going forward, as witnessed when he set up the second and third goals.

CALDWELL Mis-matched Asked to compete with Kevin Kyle in the air, which he was physically unable to do. Never shirked the challenge and made sure he was ready to fight for the second ball.

LOOVENS Quiet Content to provide cover as Caldwell fought for the ball in the air.

FOX Injured Was still finding his sharpness in his second game back after injury, but suffered damage to his left knee when Jamie Hamill caught him with late tackle.

McGEADY End product Answered manager's call to contribute with goals, opening the scoring with classy finish. Always looked to be involved, and made more use of link up with Hinkel.

CROSAS Better Having been disappointing in midweek, much more involved this time. Made good use of the ball.

N'GUEMO Strong Another to raise his performance after a poor show against Hearts. Won his share of tackles, used the ball well and much more aware of where opponents were.

McCOURT Patchy Couple of decent runs, but could not supply the end product before being replaced.

SAMARAS Happy The smile returned when he thumped home a header to break his goal drought. Deserved it for his willingness to work hard. Tried to set up team-mates and stayed in box more often than normal.

McDONALD Frustrated Saw close-range shot from Sami cross saved by Bell, and that summed up his day. Made way for Fortune midway through second half.

McGINN Relieved Despite not being on team-sheet, came on for McCourt with 25 minutes remaining and finally got his first goal for the club with a powerful finish.

FORTUNE Linked Replaced McDonald on 65 minutes to make first appearance since suffering knee ligament damage at end of August. Quickly got to work holding ball up for team-mates and adding weight to attack.

ZHENG Cameo Introduced for McGeady with eight minutes to go. No time to shine.

MOWBRAY Vindicated Always said his side could score goals and win - and they proved their manager right.

Aiden McGeady and Georgios Samaras also got on the scoresheet and with the defence keeping a clean sheet, Tony Mowbray's men will head into the match on Thursday with hopes high.

But having gained just one point from three Group C games in the new competition, McGinn admits victory is essential if they are to have any hope of qualifying from their section.

"It is a must-win game for us but it will be hard," said Northern Irishman McGinn.

"Hamburg are a good side so it is going to be difficult but we will go over there with confidence after the result and performance against Kilmarnock.

"Hopefully we can get the early goal and then try to see the game out."

McGinn replaced his fellow Irishman Paddy McCourt in the second half against Killie and took his goal beautifully after a through ball from Andreas Hinkel.

The 22-year-old, who has impressed since moving to Scotland, is hoping he has done enough to get into Mowbray's squad for the Hamburg match.

He stressed: "There are a lot of good players in the squad, but if I can get the nod then I will be delighted.

"But although it was great to get the goal, it was so much more important that we got the win, we need to get the points to go with our performances."

How typical, meanwhile, for the inconsistent Georgios Samaras to raise more questions about his ability to lead the line for Celtic in the very same game that he breaks his scoring duck.

Samaras, whose failings up front caused his side to crash out of Co-op Cup to Hearts in midweek, bulleted home a header for Celtic's second goal against the Ayrshire side.

It was the first time since the Hapoel Tel Aviv game in Israel in mid-September, six weeks and eight games ago, that the striker had hit the net.

But that aside, it was business as usual for the Greek internationalist who continues to frustrate and delight fans in equal measure.

The 24-year-old once again squandered scoring chances aplenty and failed to pick out team-mates in dangerous positions in the final third.

That the former Heerenveen and Manchester City player created so much for himself, with his pace, skill and tenacity, was quickly forgotten about.

If Tony Mowbray's men are to reclaim their Clydesdale Bank Premier League crown from Rangers and progress in Europe, they still need Samaras to sharpen up his finishing.

Perhaps the return of Marc-Antoine Fortune, out for over two months with knee ligament damage, as a second-half substitute will help him improve in that department.

The £3.8 million signing only showed flashes of what he is capable of, understandably given the lengthy of time he has been out for, against Killie.

However, he has a good pedigree and gives manager Tony Mowbray, delighted to see his side pick up only their third home triumph of his tenure, another option in attack.

With Fortune, Chris Killen, Scott McDonald, Samaras and Zheng Zhi at his disposal, competition for places up front is as intense as it has been since the 2009/10 campaign got under way.

And with the man signed from Nancy now back in the mix, Samaras and his team-mates will know any slip in their standards will likely cost them a place in the team.

But Fortune is short of match fitness and it will be interesting to see who Mowbray plays in attack against Hamburg.

In any case, the win over Kilmarnock suggests that the emergence of a regular goalscorer could see his side go from strength to strength. NEED TO KNOW

By Ronnie Cully Was it a good game? Celtic came flying out of the blocks, fired up by the stinging criticism they received for being knocked out of the League Cup by Hearts last midweek. Killie could not contain them, and relied on the physical threat of Kevin Kyle, who did get a few glimpses of goal without ever making Lukasz Zaluska make a save of note.

The finishing by Celtic was much more clinical. After Aiden McGeady put them ahead midway through the first half, the confidence returned.

Georgios Samaras made the points safe with a powerful header before the break, and Niall McGinn grabbed his first goal for the club to underline how comfortable a win it had been.

Celtic's star man? Andreas Hinkel was head and shoulders above everyone, setting up the final two goals.

Killie's best player? They found it tough to get going, but rookie keeper Cameron Bell refused to buckle, despite losing three goals.

What about the ref? Willie Collum was poor. He ignored several fouls worthy of a booking, but felt compelled to caution McGeady for simulation after he went down in the box when bouncing off James Fowler.

Who's up next? Hamburg on Thursday in the Europa League.