Patrick Vieira is hopeful Odsonne Edouard is now ready to lead his Crystal Palace forward line, over a year on from his Celtic exit.
The French striker has scored two goals in as many games for the Selhurst Park side in the Premier League, notching his latest in Sunday's 2-1 win over Leeds United. Edouard left Celtic last year after every major honour Scottish football has to offer, but netted just six goals in 28 appearances during his debut Premier League season.
Manager Vieira has no doubts over the French forward's ability despite a transitional year and says his confidence is starting to go up as he puts in the hard yards for Crystal Palace. With that will come an increase in goals, and speaking on whether or not Edouard could now handled being a leading man regularly, Vieira explained: "I hope so. In the last couple of games that we played, he was really good for us.
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"That is with the way he linked the game and was dropping deeper and working really hard. He’s scoring goals, so that will build his confidence.
"Especially as a number nine, to play games, to believe in his ability, and try to bring that connection with the players around him. He was really good (against Leeds)."
Over his time at Parkhead under both Neil Lennon and Brendan Rodgers, Edouard scored 87 goals in 179 Celtic outings.
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