Celtic 4 Ross County 0: Celtic and Rangers hitting form Those were the victories over Dundee on Sep 22 and against Hearts on Oct 7. After this week's trips to Dens Park and Easter Road, Celtic again have two matches at home - although on either side of the January break - against Motherwell and Hearts, before they go into another spell of juggling commitments in the Champions League, SPL and the two domestic cup tournaments. Their performance against Ross County was remarkable for the amount of possession they controlled - a ratio of four to one in Celtic's favour. However, as the Parkhead players themselves demonstrated against Barcelona in November, it is not the size of your quota that matters, but what you do with it. Had County taken either or both of the gift-wrapped chances presented to them just before half time, today's perspective might have looked different. However, in each case - first when Alex Cooper found Rocco Quinn unmarked inside the box and then when the situation was reversed - a hurried finish allowed Fraser Forster to block. Celtic absorbed the lesson and, after Scott Brown put them ahead in the opening seconds of the second half, County were bulldozed by a double from Gary Hooper - who should have scored before the break and who hit the crossbar later - plus a supplementary strike by James Forrest on his return to action after two months. Reflecting on his miss - and Quinn's - Cooper said: "I did not think much, I was just through on goal. I am just gutted that I missed it, really. They were good chances and on any other day you feel as though you would score them - at least one of them - but we missed both. It is unfortunate, but Rocco is a great finisher usually - he has a great strike on him. In the first half we contained them, I suppose, and played some decent football at times. You know you are not going to get too much of the ball at Celtic Park, as they had quite a lot of possession and it was backs to the wall a lot of the time. We had opportunities as well and it is unfortunate we did not take them. While Cooper brooded, Hooper feasted. The Celtic forward - who has yet to sign the extended deal offered to him by the club - revealed that, Lennon had simply told his players at half-time that their play would yield reward. "He said, "Keep doing what you're doing, move the ball quickly and take your chances." In the first half we created a few that we should have scored but in the second half we took them and I should have had a third, really," said Hooper. Celtic's 4-4-1-1 formation enabled Hooper - who dropped off Lassad Nouioui - to find the net twice and also have a say in the other two goals. "I'm here to score goals and try to set up as many as I can," he said. I was in a deeper position today but we got four goals and, as I said, I should have had my third but I hit the bar in the second half and the keeper pulled off a few saves. We need to play like that every week to win games. Last week against St Mirren I think we did that and this week I thought we scored four good goals and we need to keep going over Christmas. Hooper's work, he hopes, will be noted by Roy Hodgson. That's my dream - to play for England, to play for my country. If I can keep doing that, week in, week out, we'll see how it goes," said the 24 year-old from Loughton. Meanwhile, in the lower reaches of the SFL, Rangers" campaign to make the SPL in the fewest possible bounds was accelerated by their second 6-1 victory on the road in the Third Division, this time at Elgin, a display that put them nine points clear of the Borough Briggs side with a game in hand. Andy Little and Lee McCulloch scored doubles, with Lewis Macleod and Kyle Hutton also netting, while Daniel Moore and Mark Nicolson were on target for Elgin. Little said: "We are scoring goals and we always know we are a threat going forward. We want to stop conceding and keep scoring but we are starting to win games well now. It was a tough game. They are probably our biggest rivals in the league at the minute and the gaffer put a lot of emphasis on it. We really wanted to win this game and go nine points clear with a game in hand. Ally McCoist and his players need hardly stir from their festive firesides, with a Boxing Day fixture at home to Clyde and an encounter with Queen's Park at Hampden Park on Saturday. Pity poor Elgin, who must face Rangers again - but at Ibrox - on Jan 5. Those stone circles of old not only gauged the dance of sun and stars but were also the scene of sacrifices to the gods - another likely resemblance to the SPL and SFL3 in the months to come.