‘Amazing’ team-mates help Ambrose settle

Efe Ambrose has praised his new Celtic team-mates for helping him settle in quickly.

The Nigeria international, signed on a three-year contract from Israeli club FC Ashdod, has only been at Parkhead for just over a week but already feels at home. He was on the bench for the Champions League home draw with Benfica last Wednesday before making a late substitute appearance in the 2-0 SPL win over Dundee on Saturday.

The 23-year-old was handed his full debut in midfield against Raith Rovers in Tueday night’s Scottish Communities League Cup third-round clash at Parkhead and put in an impressive display in the comfortable 4-1 win over the First Division side.

“It has not been easy because I had a short time to adapt to being in the team,” he said. “There has been no time to train with the team properly but the feeling I have with them is amazing because they helped me to settle down very fast.

“To be able to achieve what the club wants to achieve, that means we need trophies and go as far as we can in the Champions League. It is a good place to play football and make myself a better player.”

Celtic fans believed that, in Ambrose, they were getting the centre-back which Neil Lennon admitted was a priority, but his composure on the ball and strong running suggested he may well be a bigger asset in midfield. “I am comfortable playing either position,” he said. “Wherever the coach feels I can help the team I will give him my best.

Ambrose, who won Olympic silver for Nigeria in 2008, added that he had been impressed by Gary Hooper whose four-goal performance had Lennon claiming his striker “is good enough to play for England”.

Anbrose said: “He is a helluva striker. I saw the kind of movements he made, it was amazing.”