Peter Lawwell’s message to Anthony Stokes

Anthony Stokes has revealed that a heart-to-heart with Peter Lawwell has given him hope that his Celtic career isn’t over.

The 27-year-old has only featured in two Celtic games this season and fell further out the picture after expressing his frustrations on twitter.

A return to Celtic seems highly unlikely but speaking for the first time as a Hibs player Stokes revealed that he feels he can still has a role to play in a hoops jersey.

“My future is still at Celtic,” he stated. “There is an option there for me to go back and I’ve got another year left on my contract.

“That is my plan. I had a brief conversation with Peter and I told him in no uncertain terms I want to go back at the end of the season.

“I just hope I can get myself in the best shape possible, put in some performances and go back a better player.

“My relationship with the gaffer is absolutely fine. There has been no issue in the background. I haven’t really had a look in this season but it is what it is.

“It’s easy to start saying things on Twitter but that was down to frustration. I apologised for it, I retracted it. There’s nothing I can do now other than move on.”

Hibs are still involved in three competitions with Stokes hoping that he returns to Celtic with a Championship winners medal.

“I’m here to be competitive and win titles,” he added. “We’re obviously in the Championship but that makes no difference to me. I just want to help Hibs in any way we can.

“Am I here to stop Rangers winning the league? Well it would be nicer for us to win it.”