NEW BHOY Mika Baur insists he is up for the fight after Celtic’s scrap against St Mirren in Paisley at the weekend.
The champions had to dig out the 2-1 victory against a determined Saints outfit who proved to be fierce opponents throughout a bone-shaking 90 minutes-plus with challenges flying in all over the pitch.
Pint-sized Baur didn’t shirk from the task and admits he is well prepared for two more battles on the road with the Hoops due to face St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday evening as they continue their quest for a sixth successive title.
And then there is the first Glasgow derby of the campaign when Martin O’Neill takes his players to Ibrox on Sunday for the Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final at a venue where there won’t be a Celtic fan in sight.
JOY BHOY…Mika Baur is enjoying life at Celtic.
It’s a daunting schedule, but Baur, a £6.8million summer arrival from newly-promoted Bundesliga club SC Paderborn, is only too willing to do “the dirty work”.
The 22-year-old midfielder said: “You read a lot about the Rangers game, but we to play St Johnstone first on Wednesday.
“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.
“I’m still learning as this was only my third game and only my second start. 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 believe we are getting better.”
Baur, speaking to the Daily Mail, continued: “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. You need to do the dirty work sometimes.
“I learned to do that and I like it, I’ve no problem with it. I’ve heard there’s a lot of dirty work here.
“It’s difficult to know what to expect when you are coming from a different country with a different style of football.
“But I am enjoying it.”
CRUNCH…Mika Baur tussles with St Mirren defender Alex Gogic in Paisley.
Baur also paid tribute to Martin O’Neill and his backroom staff – particularly Mark Fotheringham – for their welcome to Parkhead.
The Hoops assistant speaks German after a spell as a player at SC Freiburg and coaching stints at Karlsruher SC and Hertha Berlin.
Baur added: “The manager has got so much experience. I just played in the Second Division in Germany and you can learn a lot from that.
“I had a very young coach who was in his first year. It was the complete opposite to here. I really enjoy it with the manager, Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham.
“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.”
Let’s hope everything continues to be wunderbar for Baur and Celtic when the smoke of battle clears from the forthcoming skirmishes in Perth and Govan.
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