Karamoko Dembele made Celtic supporters stand up and take notice after he was introduced in the second half against Hearts but it is wise to be cautious about overhyping the teenager.

Every touch of the 16-year-old was cheered by the Celtic Park crowd, which was great to see as the diminutive winger settled his nerves and produced some great football.

Despite his young age, Dembele was not overwhelmed by the occasion and looked comfortable in his surroundings despite playing in front of almost 60,000 people for the first time in his fledgeling career.

He did not hide and demanded the ball from his teammates by taking up some great positions. In possession, he looked purposeful and he was certainly not afraid to take responsibility.

On a few occasions, he decided to take a shot on, and he came close to a dream scoring debut. There is certainly a real talent there and supporters are justifiably excited by his potential.

I do, though, think there should be some caution in regards to Dembele. At 16, he still has a long way to go, both in his footballing development and his physical development.

At 5ft 3, he is definitely on the small side, and the backroom staff will be hoping for a growth spurt that allows him to develop the type of physicality required for the Scottish game.

Of course, height isn’t as important in modern football as it used to be and the focus should be on his technical development over the coming months and years. Not every promising teenager turns into a world beater straight away.

You don’t have to look very far to see that is the case. When he entered the pitch yesterday, Dembele was not the youngest player to ever play for the club; that honour remains with Jack Aitchison.

The striker scored on his debut in the 7-0 rout of Motherwell at the back end of the 2015/16 season. The teenager was touted as one of the likeliest to breakthrough into the first team after excellent displays in the UEFA Youth League.

However, since then, things haven’t gone quite to plan. He has made just two more substitute appearances for the senior side, and went out on loan to Dumbarton earlier this season, playing four games in League One.

Aitchison has since been out on another loan spell with Alloa but he scored just once in 10 appearances for the Championship club.

Certainly, not every young player is the same. Dembele may well follow the path of the likes of James Forrest and excel following a promising debut, but we should be careful not to put too much pressure on an exciting young talent.