OH BHOY! KENNY THANKS HIS NEW TEAM-MATES

JONJOE KENNY has thanked his new team-mates for helping him settle in following his whirlwind start to his loan stint at Celtic.

The Everton right-back agreed the temporary switch a couple of hours before Monday’s night’s transfer deadline and made his debut in the 4-0 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park the following evening.

Kenny, 23, hit the ground running and hardly put a foot wrong against the Ayrshire outfit with some excellent raids on the flank where he showed calmness and authority with some shrewd and measured crossing.- something that has been missing all season.

The performance of the player who spent last year on loan at Schalke in the Bundesliga was a bonus as Neil Lennon’s side showed glimpses of their former self.

Kenny is looking forward to his first game at Parkhead – albeit at an empty stadium – when Motherwell visit for tomorrow’s 3pm kick-off.

The former England Under-21 international, speaking to the Celtic website, said: “It was a brilliant first few days. It was good to arrive and just get straight into it. I had the chance to have a chat with the gaffer on the day I signed and he made me feel welcome.

“I did a training session right after that and then the Kilmarnock game was the following day. I was happy with jumping straight into things because that’s what I want to be doing.

“That quick turnaround really helped me settle in right away because I didn’t have time to think about things, it was all about the football and that’s what you want.

“I knew a couple of the boys already. I knew Shane Duffy because he was at Everton when I was younger.”

Kenny, who is valued at £7million by the Goodison outfit, added: “The thing that helped me settle the most was the lads were brilliant with me.

“When the lads make you feel so welcome like they did and you have that communication going on during the game, then it makes a huge difference.

”There are a lot of good teams who will be difficult to beat, so I’m really looking forward to every game and working hard to get good results. No game is going to be easy, but that’s football and that’s what you want when you walk out on to the pitch.

“It’s about taking each game as it comes and taking what we did in the Kilmarnock game and building on it. We worked hard, pressed and fought for the ball and once we got the ball we were calm and collected.

“Having those two sides to the team makes you strong and if we can show that every week the results will come.”