Petrov loss would hurt Celts, warns McGeady

CELTIC midfielder Aiden McGeady admits the potential loss of Stilian Petrov will hurt him as a fan of the club.

Bulgaria international Petrov is poised to join Portsmouth, according to Fratton Park chairman Milan Mandaric.

Petrov, 27, handed in a written transfer request at the end of last season as he set his sights on a move to the Barclays Premiership.

Irish international McGeady said: “I would like to see Stilian stay because he is a quality player and we need quality players at Celtic.

As a Celtic fan, I would like to see him stay and, as a Celtic player, because he is a class act. He is such an influential player, scores goals and it would be sad to see him go.”

The possible loss of Petrov will further weaken Celtic manager Gordon Strachan’s squad.

Celtic have toiled during pre-season, winning just one of their six friendlies, with McGeady scoring the winner in a 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday.

The departures of Roy Keane and John Hartson have been off-set by the arrivals of Jiri Jarosik, Gary Caldwell, Derek Riordan, Kenny Miller and Evander Sno, who are still settling into the side this summer.