Mika Baur admits he is still adapting to the demands of Scottish football – but the Celtic midfielder is already relishing the “dirty work” required in Martin O’Neill’s side.
The 22-year-old made only his second domestic start for the Hoops in Saturday night’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren, having arrived from Paderborn for an initial £4.5million fee this summer.
Baur impressed in Paisley, creating a match-high four chances, and believes he is gradually getting to grips with the intensity and physicality of the Premiership.
“I’m still learning as this was only my third game and only my second start,” Baur said after the victory in Paisley via Daily Record. “Everything is still new and I’m still figuring out how everything works.
“It’s high intensity, there’s a lot of pressure in the duels, a lot of hard fights. But if we play our style and control it then I think we are capable of winning games.
“I’m not the tallest! But why should I be shy. It’s not just about playing nice football with the ball. There’s so much else. You need to do the dirty work sometimes. I learned to do that and I like it – I’ve no problem with it. I’d heard there’s a lot of dirty work here, but I enjoy it.
“I don’t think it’s getting easier. It’s difficult to know what to expect when you are coming from a different country with a different style of football. It will be difficult on Wednesday again but I just want to enjoy it and hopefully play well.”
A Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers awaits on Sunday, but Baur insists all attention is on Wednesday night’s rearranged league trip to St Johnstone first.
“Of course you read a lot about it [the Rangers game],” Baur added. “But we have a game on Wednesday first against St Johnstone. We have to win that one, so my focus is on that match – then we can go for Rangers.
“It’s an exciting period. There’s nothing better than playing every three days. It’s play-recover-play again, but I really enjoy that. It also means you need every player to play a part because there’s a lot of minutes. But I look forward to the next 14 days.”
Baur is also beginning to settle away from football after moving into a new Glasgow apartment with his girlfriend.
On the training ground, he has credited O’Neill and assistants Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham with helping him adjust, with the German-speaking Fotheringham proving particularly useful.
“He’s got so much experience,” Baur said of O’Neill. “I just played in the second division in Germany and you can learn a lot from that.
“I had a very young coach [Ralf Kettemann, 40], who was in his first year. It was the complete opposite to here.
“I really enjoy it with the manager, and with Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham as well. It’s a great staff and a great coaching team. I’m learning a lot.
“It’s been great with Mark. Sometimes it’s a mixture of English and German! He can be explaining something and he mixes in some German words. It’s good to have someone to speak with like that. It helps a lot.”
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