Flood: I was close to tears on Celtic debut

WILLO FLOOD has revealed he was close to tears when he took to the field for his Celtic debut in the Old Firm derby.

The Dublin-born midfielder was already buzzing after being told he was starting Sunday’s crucial Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Rangers.

And he was almost overcome when he eventually ran out at a packed Parkhead.

“Before Sunday, I had only ever watched the Glasgow derby at home on television,” said boyhood Celtic fan Flood, who signed from Cardiff last month after 18 months on loan at Dundee United.

“It was my first ever experience of the game, so to get the nod to start against Rangers was a dream come true for me, it really was.

“To just run out for the warm up as a Celtic player was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye. It was a great honour to get that chance.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable. I knew it would be good but I didn’t expect the level of noise at the start. The place was absolutely bouncing for the first 20 minutes.

“I remember watching the game on television back home and thinking how good it would be to get the chance to play for Celtic against Rangers. I can’t believe I’ve now achieved it.

“If someone had said to me all those years ago, when I was watching (Henrik) Larsson and the rest of the Celtic team face Rangers, that I would have been there one day, I’d have just laughed at them.

“I’d have said, ‘Listen, I’m not Paul Daniels. I can’t just make things happen by magic’.

“But it’s all happened for real now and it was an absolute dream for me. It’s an experience I’ll treasure for the rest of my life and hopefully there are more to come.”

Flood played just over an hour of Sunday’s goalless draw, which maintained Celtic’s two-point lead at the top of the SPL.

The former Manchester City trainee was only told he was starting a couple of hours before kick-off and did not have time to let his family know the big news.

He said: “It was a big shock for me because I didn’t really know where I stood in the manager’s plans. I’ve been at Celtic for a few weeks now but I wasn’t able to be involved in the last few games.

“To be honest, I was just hoping to be in the squad. I’d have been happy to be on the bench, so when the manager gave me the nod, I was really chuffed.

“I didn’t even have time to tell anybody but, looking back, that was probably for the best.

“The manager just pulled me aside and told me I was starting on the right side of midfield.

“It was a massive boost for me. He has shown great faith in me and it’s good to know that he believes in what I can do.

“I’ll take a lot of confidence from that. It was one of the biggest games of the season so far and hopefully I can go on to bigger and better things from here on in.”