Kelechi Iheanacho admits he was surprised to be introduced as early as he was for Celtic against Crvena zvezda on Wednesday evening.
The Nigerian striker came on to replace Daizen Maeda at the interval and made an instantaneous impact, opening the scoring on 55 minutes with a fine finish into the top-right corner.
Speaking to TNT Sports post-match, Iheanacho was asked whether he was surprised to have to come on at the break. "Yeah, a little bit," he replied. "But obviously, the manager has to make the call, and I was ready to come in.
"So I came in and gave my best for the team.
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"I'm happy to play for this great team, Celtic, and I'm happy to play my first European game with them. It was a good outing. We played a strong side and we get a point from it, so [I'm] happy."
Before he opened the scoring, the 28-year-old had a guilt-edged opportunity from close range that produced a fine stop by opposition goalkeeper Matheus.
"Those kinds of chances as a striker, you felt it was in, but that was a really good save from the goalkeeper," continued Iheanacho. "The second one, he tried as well to follow the ball, but it was in the top corner, so he couldn't save that one.
"I have obviously been in touch with the gaffer for a while, but it was a good decision by my team to come to Celtic.
"As you can see, I'm enjoying being at Celtic. Hopefully, there is more to come and more goals to come."
