Ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton has hit back at critics of the Scottish Premiership. The BBC radio pundit used new Crystal Palace signing Odsonne Edouard as an example to show why there isn’t such a gulf between Scotland and England’s top flights.

Edouard scored two goals in the space of ten minutes after coming on in the 3-0 win over Tottenham at the weekend. Considering the Frenchman had only hit the back of the net twice in four league matches for Celtic before his move down south, Sutton mocked the quality of the EPL:

“I did laugh and chortle. The Premier League – the best league in the world? And the Scottish League a pub league? The Dog and Duck? A farmer’’s league? Mickey Mouse? And a laughing stock to many down south?”

“Well, we saw Odsonne Edouard transfer down from the pub league to Crystal Palace. He came on with six minutes left against Spurs yesterday and scored TWICE. At this rate, he will score 70 goals this season.”

Sutton is absolutely right to stick up for the standards of the Scottish game. Of course, the quality of matches are not always high, but there is no doubt that Celtic would be a match for the vast majority of Premier League teams.

They made it to the first knockout round of the Europa League only a couple of years ago, which was the same stage that Leicester were knocked out of last season. The gap between the two leagues is not as big as many in England claim.