Flood drive tempted Strachan

Willo Flood is determined to keep impressing Gordon Strachan after the Celtic manager revealed his drive and enthusiasm had won him a move to Parkhead.

Flood will have to unseat the likes of Aiden McGeady, Barry Robson, Shunsuke Nakamura and Shaun Maloney to win a place in the Celtic midfield after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

But the 23-year-old’s determination was one of the assets that encouraged Strachan to sign him from Cardiff following his successful loan spell with Dundee United.

Flood said: “The manager called me in and said, ’We like your drive, we like your enthusiasm and we like your ability so it’s up to you to kick on from there’.

“I think I can learn from Gordon Strachan, Neil Lennon and Garry Pendrey and the lads here as well.

“I think I can learn from every player at the club because the standard of player here is frightening.

“I just think I need to work hard in training and catch the manager’s eye, and then it’s up to the manager if I’m good enough to get into the team.”

The former Manchester City player, who made his Premiership debut at the age of 19, can also start to think about Champions League appearances.

But he is keen to focus on short-term goals as he begins his Celtic career.

“That’s a long way away,” he said. “I just think I need to establish myself in the team first and work hard in training, and hopefully I can play in the Championship League next season.

“It’s in the back of my mind but I just want to catch the manager’s eye and get into the team before the end of the season.”

Flood revealed he had faced scepticism when he decided to go on loan at United 18 months ago.

But he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Scottish Premier League and hailed United boss Craig Levein for improving him as a player.

And he believes the success of former Motherwell striker Ross McCormack since signing for Cardiff in the summer has given his former team-mates a glimpse of how good the SPL can be.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said the Dubliner. “I just used to watch Celtic, I never really watched anyone else.

“I was very surprised, the standard in the SPL is a lot better than a lot of people down south think.

“Look at Ross McCormack, he is probably the best player in the Championship at the moment.”