Maryan Shved has spoken out for the first time about his move to Celtic.
The Ukrainian made a brief visit to Glasgow last month to complete a £1.75m transfer then was loaned straight back to Karpaty Lviv.
Shved will stay with his Ukrainian side until the end of April when he is expected to return to Celtic to get a taste of training before coming fully on board for pre-season.
Scottish football has a tough, physical reputation but the new bhoy isn’t concerned by that and will use the next couple of months to full prepare himself for the challenges ahead of him in Glasgow.
“There’s many stereotypes about Scottish football, but not all of them are true,” he told The Sun. “Ukrainian football is also tough and to be honest, do you think Celtic would really have wanted to sign me if they thought I could not handle the physical side of the game in Scotland? I don’t think so.
“We will see, but I am certainly not worried about it. I am a Celtic player now and I am really looking forward to going to Glasgow.
“For the moment, I will give everything for Lviv and we will try and win the Cup here. When I went to Scotland, there was a great atmosphere at Celtic Park. It’s certainly a very different set of fans than what I am used to.
“I think it will help my chances of playing for Ukraine again. Celtic are always in the Champions League too, so I am sure that help my game get better too.”
Karpaty are currently in a training camp in Turkey with their domestic season resuming on February 24 when they travel to face Vorskla.
At the half way stage in the Premier League Karpaty are sitting in eight place, one point behind Desna in sixth. Like the SPFL Premiership the UPL splits in two with the top six playing for the title and European places while the bottom six play to avoid relegation.