Lewis Morgan has revealed that he never gave a thought to joining Sunderland on loan.
Celtic signed the winger from St Mirren in January and agreed to send him back to Paisley as part of that deal.
Jack Ross was quoted as being interested in taking his former player on loan to Sunderland but that option never got off the ground.
James Forrest, Scott Sinclair, Jonny Hayes and Mikey Johnston are all competing for places in the starting XI which gave credibility to the prospect of Morgan going out on loan.
The former St Mirren winger picked up an injury on his competitive debut away to Alashkert that delayed his progress but has no second thoughts about heading out on loan.
“It was paper talk, I never heard anything about that,” Morgan told the Evening Times. “When I came in I didn’t want to go anywhere else so that was never a possibility. I am here and I want to try and fight for my place at this club.
“The demands that are put upon us and the intensity of training is higher than what I was used to before. It is a team of winners in there and the expectation levels has risen.
“Training with the calibre of player brings you on and with the staff that we have got here they are experienced and know what they are talking about. Working with all of them has been really beneficial to me.”
Morgan was in the starting XI for the away tie with RB Leipzig but is likely to be on the bench for Thursday’s return match.
While a draw would technically keep Celtic in contention to progress a home win is needed to draw level with the Germans with two matches still to play.
Winning by a scoreline equal or better than 2-0 would put Celtic’s fate in their own hands.
