Source: FOOTYMAD
Climbing the Kelvin scale
Six months preparing for this first game, Kelvin Wilson was not disappointed. Kelvin Wilson has waited a long time to make his debut in a Celtic top but the six-month wait ended on Saturday. It was back in January that the English defender signed a pre-contract which lined him up for a move to Parkhead in the summer at the end of his deal with Nottingham Forrest. During his wait, he rarely featured in the first team but his frustrations were swept aside when he pulled on a Celtic jersey for the first time in the friendly against Central Coast Mariners in Sydney. Despite the 1-0 defeat in the the first game of the club's Australian tour, Wilson claims the experience had whetted his appetite. He said: "It was nice to get it out the way. It's always a bit nervy playing your first game, and it was nice to play football again overall as I haven't played for a long time. It was my first match in over five months, so for that I was happy. I was pretty pleased with my fitness, too. I just want to kick on in every game now and keep getting fitter and be in contention for the start of the season. It was good to get back into things and I was happy with the performance but getting through the 90 minutes was what I was happy with more than most. That was the main thing. I would have been happy to get 60 minutes at the start of the game but I looked at the clock and saw 88 minutes and thought, 'yes, I have 90 minutes under my belt which is the first time for a long time', so I was delighted." Meanwhile, on their return Celtic will travel to Wales on 3 August for a pre-season friendly against newly promoted Premier League side Swansea. The former rivals of Parkhead players (both ex Cardiff City) Joe Ledley and Adam Matthews will host Celtic three days after the Dublin Cup in Ireland. This will be the first meeting between the sides, four days before Celtic return to domestic action, taking on Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the SPL.
