Ledley would love to have Bellamy back

JOE Ledley doesn't know if Craig Bellamy will opt for Celtic ahead of the other suitors, but he sincerely hopes he does. The pair are team-mates at international level and the summer signing says it would be a major coup if Bellamy was to return to Parkhead for a second spell and join him.

"It would be a massive boost if we could get Craig Bellamy. I played with him on Wednesday for Wales and he's a great player. He set up three goals and scored one in that game against Luxembourg. I think last season he was one of the best players for Manchester City and I think it would be great for the club and for us as players to have him at Parkhead. He's a massive player," said Ledley.

"He wants to win, and that's what we want. We want to go out there and win games and play as well as we can. It's great when you hear the club are going for players of the calibre of Bellamy. Before I signed, the names being linked were Jimmy Bullard, David James and Sol Campbell, and now it's Craig Bellamy. That proves just how big this club is and hopefully we can pull this one off - it would be a great honour and credit to the staff.

"But while it's great to be linked with big players, we actually want to sign some. I think Craig proved he's got fire in his belly in midweek for Wales because he was man of the match."

Ledley says that he did discuss life at Celtic with the club's former loan star, but says he is no clearer as to whether he will join the list of Lennon signings.

"I just hope behind the scenes they can sort it out. I've spoken to him about Celtic and he said he loved his time here, but I didn't really get into his personal situation because that's down to Craig himself. But I'd love him here, and so would all the players and staff. He only had positive things to say about Celtic. He loved his time at Parkhead and it would be great to get him back.

"He's still 31 and playing the best football of his career. It would be a great honour to play with him at club level as well. He's got pace, he's a good finisher and he's good on the ball. He's got everything - he's a Premiership class player and it's a bit odd he's not in the 25-man squad for Manchester City when you consider he's the best player there, but if they don't want him then we'd be delighted to have him.

"We created a lot of chances on Saturday and maybe on another day we'd have scored five or six. That's why it would be great to have Bellamy here because he's a great player and he's determined as well. Even just for a season would be great to have him because he could help push us forward and hopefully challenge for the title."

But regardless if Bellamy signs or not, Ledley says there is still a confidence within the Celtic ranks that they can usurp Rangers as champions and progress in Europe.

"Even if we don't get a so-called marquee signing we proved on Saturday the squad is good enough.We put in a good performance - although the 1-0 scoreline was a bit disappointing - and proved we can create chances and maybe the next time we can put them away. It was a good team performance.

"To be fair to Inverness, I thought they did well in the first half, but we can take a lot of positives out of the game and now we can look forward to Utrecht in the Europa League on Thursday."