Bellamy ravenous for Old Firm chance

New Celtic signing Craig Bellamy is hungry for his first taste of Old Firm action.

The Wales international is expected to face Rangers at Parkhead on February 20 in a game likely to have a major say in the destiny of the Bank of Scotland Premier League crown.

And the striker, who was loaned out from Newcastle following a bust-up with boss Graeme Souness, has also revealed he comes from a Celtic-supporting area of Cardiff.

He told Celtic View: “The area I am from is real Celtic.

“I don’t want to go into it too much because I don’t want to upset the other half but Celtic have a big say where I am from in Wales and a lot of my friends and family were delighted when I signed because it means a lot to them.

“I have always had a soft touch for Celtic.”

Bellamy has yet to make his Hoops debut, having been controversially left out at the weekend because Martin O’Neill feared he would suffer an injury on Dunfermline’s plastic pitch.

The row over that is still rumbling on after O’Neill and Pars chairman John Yorkston had a war of words over Bobo Balde.

Bellamy is now likely to make his bow at Inverness on Saturday, in the final league game before the Rangers clash.

He said: “This is probably the best place you could be, at Celtic Park in front of all those fans against Rangers, and I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I will be in the team and make my home debut in that game.

“I know I will be blown away during the first few minutes because it is a big occasion.”

Meanwhile, Balde has lifted the lid on the new contract negotiations which saw him turn down a move to the Premiership with Middlesbrough to stay at Parkhead.

The Guinea international conducted the deal himself, without an agent.

He said: “It’s true I do all my negotiating alone; no agents at all. There have been a lot of people phoning around to say they speak for me but they don’t - I don’t have an agent.

“When I go to speak to the manager or the chief executive I always speak for myself.

“Maybe that is unusual but for me everything is simple. I knew what I wanted to be paid and how long I wanted my contract to be.”

Birmingham had also been keen to sign him but they too ended up disappointed.

He said: “Of course the Premiership was an attractive option for me because you know that in that league there is a big challenge of playing against great strikers almost every week.

“But, if I had left to go to either Middlesbrough or Birmingham, I would have been moving to a smaller club than Celtic.”