Balde is a Keane admirer

Bobo Balde believes the signing of Roy Keane will help secure the Bank of Scotland Premier League title for Celtic.

The 34-year-old midfielder marked his belated return to the side with his first goal in the Hoops as his team-mates moved 10 points clear of Hearts with a 2-1 victory over Falkirk.

The former Manchester United captain impressed, having replaced rested skipper Neil Lennon, which leaves manager Gordon Strachan with a major midfield dilemma.

Celtic go to Ibrox with an incredible 18-point lead over Rangers but the Parkhead boss must decide whether to bring Lennon back in at the expense of Keane or Stilian Petrov or try to accommodate all three of them.

Guinea defender Balde, back at Parkhead after representing his country at the African Nations Cup, has been impressed by what he has seen of Keane so far.

“Roy played well and his arrival will help us win the league,” the 30-year-old said.

“I am delighted to be back, delighted to have played and to have won the game (against Falkirk).

“We have done enough to win the game and the most important thing was getting the three points.

“Hearts drew and Rangers lost so we are happy to go further ahead by winning.

“We have to keep trying to get better and we did that after not looking too good in games.

“We have conceded a lot of goals so we were happy to see this one through.

“To be honest I would have preferred to have kept a clean sheet but it was vital to win the game.

“Falkirk gave us problems and kept on fighting to the last minute but we are confident going to Rangers now.”

Celtic have failed to keep a clean sheet in 13 games, indeed their last one came in the 3-0 win over Rangers in November.

Falkirk’s Kenny Milne set up a nervous last six minutes after Stephen McManus had seemingly secured the three points.

Daniel McBreen squandered a glorious last-gasp chance which spoiled a good night for Strachan, who declared his side to be back to their best ahead of the trip across town.

Falkirk manager John Hughes thought McBreen had given his struggling side a share of the points late on.

“I thought it was in,” he sighed.

“He had a few chances but the one thing about the big man is he keeps going back for more and that’s what I like about him.

“I really feel for him and his work ethic is second to none, he’ll always get goals.”

Hughes left Russell Latapy on the bench but has vowed to bring him back for the weekend game with Hibernian, who warmed up for the game with a 7-0 win over Livingston.

“Russell usually comes here and performs,” he said.

“But to ask him to play the number of games we have at 37 is going to kill him.

“We need to protect him and he will be fresh on Saturday.”

The Bairns remain eight points clear of bottom club Livingston.