NICOLAS KUHN admits he was well aware of the great expectations that lay ahead when he joined Celtic in a £3million switch from Rapid Vienna in January.
The German winger anticipated the challenges he would encounter and attempt to overcome when he signed his five-year contract at the champions, but acknowledged he didn’t hit the ground at full pelt after his arrival.
Kuhn said: “I knew before that Celtic want to win everything and every game there is. I knew what was coming.
PICK IT OUT…Nicolas Kuhn whips in Celtic’s equaliser with Aberdeen keeper Kelle Roos helpless.
“The beginning was a little bit difficult for me, but now I am settled and I feel good.
“Physically, I am getting stronger, now I can go 90 minutes. Before, I struggled after 70 minutes, but now I feel much better and that makes a big difference for me.
“I know I can go 90 minutes, I don’t have to hold some power back, so I’m happy.”
The 24-year-old wide Bhoy is ready to play his part in the Parkhead side’s pursuit of a league and Cup double with just six vitally important games to play with every outing a potential banana skin.
Looking forward to Sunday’s visit to Dens Park for his first-ever match against Dundee, Kuhn, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “I think we have to play our game, if they stay behind then we have to find the spaces at the back four or five.
“So we are going to have to do our best to find the solution.
“It’s an away game, so it’s not going to be easy. We can’t underestimate any team. We have to focus on ourselves and give everything.
BEST FOOT FORWARD…Nicolas Kuhn tussles for the ball with Kelle Roos as he looks for another goal.
“We’ve had a good week, we’ve prepared for the next match and it’s going to be exciting.”
Kuhn was on target against Aberdeen in the see-sawing Scottish Cup semi-final at the weekend when he snapped onto a ricochet from a Kyogo Furuhashi effort to slide in the Hoops’ equaliser.
Reflecting on the eventual 6-5 penalty-kick shoot-out success, Kuhn added: “It was really nice, the atmosphere was great.
“It was good that we got the win at the end and that was the most important thing.
“But now we are focused on the next match. That’s all we did this week and then we go from game to game.”
The five-game countdown to the crown kicks off at Dens Park on Sunday at 3pm and the curtain wll come down in the Scottish Cup showpiece against Rangers at Hampden on May 25.
As Kuhn says, “it’s going to be exciting”.
