MOUSSA Dembele has frequently hogged the headlines this season with his heroics for Celtic, not least in the games against their city rivals Rangers, up front.

Scott Sinclair, too, has stood out with his eye-catching displays on the left wing and his staggering haul of 25 goals in all competitions.

Kieran Tierney, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength at left back despite having to undergo surgery and spend three months on the sidelines.

And Stuart Armstrong has finally, after a year and a half of frustration and false dawns, established himself as a first team regular in central midfield and forced his way into the Scotland side at the same time.

But for Chris Davies, the Parkhead club’s assistant manager, the three men who have been critical of the success which Celtic have enjoyed under Brendan Rodgers in the past 12 months are often, if not overlooked, taken for granted.

Davies believes that senior players Scott Brown, Craig Gordon and Mikael Lustig must accept many of the plaudits for the Champions League qualification, 44 game unbeaten domestic run and Betfred Cup and Ladbrokes Premiership triumphs.

Should the Glasgow club defeat Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden on Saturday week and so complete only the fourth treble in their history then he will feel the holy trinity of Brown, Gordon and Lustig will deserve much of the acclaim.

“There are so many great stories from this season,” he said. “I have enjoyed the main story recently which has been Scott [Sinclair] because I have known him for so long and I have been so happy for him.

“He has gone from maybe not enjoying his football so much to having an amazing season so I have loved that. I have loved the development of players – Stuart Armstrong, of course, as well as players like Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney and younger players who have developed and evolved as the season has gone by.

“But in addition, I have loved the influence of the senior players. That is so important. They should never be forgotten because they are the glue that holds it all together; Scott Brown, Mikael Lustig, Craig Gordon have been excellent for us and they are leaders within the dressing room.”

Both Brown and Gordon had points to prove at the start of the 2016/17 campaign after Rodgers succeeded Ronny Deila; the former’s form dipped dramatically last season and the latter took time to adapt to his new manager’s demands of him and found himself out of the side.

But Brown, the captain and central midfielder, has been a man reborn while Gordon, the goalkeeper, has improved to such an extent that Chelsea, who were crowned English champions last week, were keen to sign him during the January transfer window.

“The best stories are always the ones where someone has to show resilience,” said Davies. “That is the example of Craig. He fought his way to get back into the team and has stayed there. That is what Stu has done as well.

“It is a great quality to have because life is not always that easy and you have to be able to bounce back and show that reliance and keep working hard. It is always great when there is a player out of the team and you see them trying to work, trying to develop and the get back and they stay there.

“Usually that is why you see that development – because they have been out of the team and they have had to recognise, right, I need to do this, this and this, whatever the manager has fed back to them that they have to improve on. They go away, they do it and they become a better player for that experience.”

The sparkling form of Sinclair, though, has been particularly pleasing for Davies given that it took £3.5 million, a considerable outlay for a club like Celtic to secure his signing, from Aston Villa.

“Scott was at Swansea when Brendan took me there,” he said. “I have known him ever since then. In our first season he was the key player in our promotion season and then in the Premier League he scored goals. Then he went to Manchester City and we went to Liverpool.

“The manager identified early that Scott would be perfect for the club and for the team and it is credit to the club for getting him in because he is a Premier League quality player. He scored on his debut and has been great. It has paid off.”