VASILIS BARKAS has admitted it will take time to adjust to life at Celtic.
The keeper, who arrived in a £4.5million move from AEK Athens in the summer, revealed it has not been easy taking over from Fraser Forster as the Hoops’ No.1.
Barkas didn’t get off to the best of starts in his new career when they went out of the Champions League in only his third game.
With 15 minutes to go and the game poised at 1-1 with Ferencvaros, Hatem Abd Elhamed made the original error when he allowed a hacked clearance to elude him and the Greek international allowed the Hungarian striker to squeeze the winner beyond him at his near post.
Barkas, who helped his country pick up four points from six in their two Nations League games after a draw in Slovenia and a win in Kosovo, told a Greek radio station: “The Scottish league is different. I need to adjust to it and it’s not easy.
“I am working hard each day and I am calm about it. Certainly, it will take me some time to adjust.
“At Celtic, there is pressure on us to win the league.
“But my team-mates believe in me and they have been very warm with me and so have the people in Scotland.
“With each passing game, I will get more used to my team-mates and learn from them. I will work to become a better keeper.
“I enjoyed the international break, although obviously it was very different this time with all the restrictions, but I was used to it because we are always testing in Scotland.
“We’ve started with two positive results and we are favourites to win the group.”
Twenty-six-year-old Barkas will continue his learning curve when Neil Lennon takes the champions to Dingwall to face Ross County tomorrow afternoon.
