A competition is brewing within the Celtic dressing room, but it is one that both fans and their manager will be welcoming it, because it is the competition between strikers of Anthony Stokes and Gary Cooper.

Anthony Stokes scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 demolition of St Mirren during the weekend in a match that has helped cause a real shift in the title race in the Scottish Premier League - not least because Kilmarnock managed a surprising 1-0 win over Rangers.

Even though Celtic are currently four points behind Rangers in the title race, Gary Cooper believes that his competition with Anthony Stokes will ensure that Celtic come even close to Rangers in the title race.

Anthony Stokes has scored 12 goals this season and Gary Cooper is not far behind with 11. The hat-trick against St Mirren helped Anthony Stokes overtake Cooper in the goalscoring stakes.

However, Stokes is not taking this lightly, as he is prepared to win the race by scoring even more against Celtic's Europa League opponents Atletico Madrid. It is going to be an extremely tough fixture, although Atletico Madrid will be coming off the back of a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.

Speaking after the win over St Mirren, Gary Cooper said "I have told Stokesy it's going to be a great compeition now. After the game, he asked how many I have scored this season and I told him he's just one ahead of me now. There's is no bet involved but I will definitely beat him."

It remains to be seen if Celtic will shift their focus to the Europa League given that they are now capable of catching Rangers in the SPL.