As Celtic prepare to cross the t's and dot the i's on a £5million deal for Vasilis Barkas this week, Neil Lennon appears to have finally landed a new number one goalkeeper for his side's 10 in a row push.

It was, of course, Fraser Forster last season who was the Hoops' top man between the sticks. Before that Craig Gordon held the position and, before him, Scott Bain. One man, though, who is yet to stake his claim for the gloves is youngster Ross Doohan. The 22-year-old has been on the books at Parkhead since 2015 when, at just 17, he started out at the academy.

Loan spells at Greenock Morton and Ayr United have been peppered in between sporadic appearances for Celts in pre-season friendlies and bounce games. But, having signed a new deal back in 2018 to keep him at the club until 2022, Celtic clearly have plans for the player to make some sort of an impact down the line.

That's the view shared by Ayr United manager Mark Kerr, who worked with Doohan over the course of two seasons. The goalkeeper earned the Honest Men's player of the year award and had a quietly terrific two campaigns in the Scottish Championship. He proved his mettle in a competitive league and Kerr believes he has what it takes to make it big in the game.

Understandably, Doohan will have to bide his time further if he wants that success to come at Celtic. It looks increasingly likely that the stopper will have another loan move by the end of this week secured at Ross County. This time in the Scottish Premiership, another step up for the player.

And Kerr - who wanted to take Doohan back to Ayr for a third spell - is sure his former player will thrive, as he has already. "Ross came in and was brilliant for me," he told Herald and Times Sport. "From the very start he was outstanding, he's a brilliant trainer and a great boy. He fit in really well and his loan was amazing for him. He got better and better every week and has earned a lot of experience over the years. He's a really talented goalie and he has the attitude to go with that.

"I think he won all the awards in his first year, he was brilliant. He did make a massive impact, huge saves during the season and in the big games, he did it all consistently for the boys.

"The thing is, Celtic are looking for a proper number one who has all the experience for the Champions League and everything. You can understand that there are different levels but hopefully Ross gets the opportunity in a couple of years to progress into that, I know people think highly of him. Right now, though, you'd never question why Celtic were doing that. They have an unbelievable run to try and go on to win another league title and compete in Europe this year."

While Doohan may be champing at the bit to play regularly for his boyhood club, Kerr reckons he has enough about him to understand the situation as it is. There may be too much at stake for Celtic this season not to sign a new goalkeeper and rely solely on their hopes of Doohan coming good, even if they have faith in their kid.

"I know Doohan is ambitious and he wants to get there," Kerr added. "But I don't think he'd be too bothered about missing out this season. I think he realises that, right now, Celtic need that Fraser Forster type of figure. Doosy is just learning all the time, he's only a young lad. 

"He has been away with them to France and he'll, of course, be wanting to impress."