"I Was Waiting All Day" For Celtic Phone Call - Dubliner Jonny Hayes
Republic of Ireland international Johnny Hayes is hoping his move to the "bigger stage" at Celtic will boost his chances of more action under Irish boss Martin O'Neill.
The Dubliner made the move from Aberdeen over the weekend and revealed this afternoon how eager O'Neill was to see the move go through.
"Obviously Martin [has a] great affection for the club and you could see that glint in his eye when we were talking about Celtic. He was like, 'Are you going to go?'
"Funnily enough, when I met up with the [Ireland] squad, I went in a few hours late because I thought the deal might have been done before I left.
"So when I asked permission, could I come in a little bit later, there was obviously no issue because it was Celtic!"
"It is a bigger stage, there's no doubt about it. Playing out there in front of that crowd every week, more people come to games. It's going to be a higher standard and it can only help me with [my] international ambitions.
O'Neill isn't the only gaffer whose eyes dance at the mention of all things Celtic and it was the enthusiasm of his new club boss Brendan Rodgers that really sold Hayes on the idea of the move. Even if he was made to wait!
"It's the manager, he's infectious. What you see is what you get. He's terrific to work for. I was sitting at home when he rang. I was waiting all day for the phone call.
"I think it was about 6, 7 o'clock at night and when he rang I just stopped what I was doing, picked up the phone. And honestly I don't even think I'd spoken a word in those first 30 seconds, other than hello, and I was sold!"
The Hoops will be starting to gear up for another European adventure very soon and they will be very optimistic about making a winning start to their Champions League campaign following today's draw.
They received a bye into the second qualifying round where they will face either Linfield or San Marino outfit La Fiorita and Hayes is relishing the chance to play on one of those famous European nights at Parkhead.
"I've obviously watched it on television. It's hard to get away from, the way people talk about it, the regard it's held in.
"When you see players...Michael Owen, Lionel Messi talking about the atmosphere at Celtic Park, it's the best they've played in.
"That's enough for me really. If that's what they think of it, it's not going to get much better."
Meanwhile it looks as though Celtic and Linfield will avoid a potential clash on July 12, which was a possibility, if the Belfast club progress that far.
July 12 is the date that the marching season peaks in Northern Ireland so understandably the clubs would like to avoid a hostile clash at Windsor Park.
It now looks as though any prospective match will be played on July 11, with an earlier kick-off time of 5pm.