‘SILENT CELTIC PARK SURPRISED ME,’ ADMITS ICELANDIC ACE

ROSENBORG attacker Matthias Vilhjalmsson admitted he was surprised by how quiet Celtic Park was during Wednesday’s Champions League scoreless stalemate.

And the Icelandic international is now backing the Norwegian fans to roar on his side to victory in the second leg next week.

The 900-strong Green Brigade, of course, were banned from the tie with 49,172 turning out in the east end of Glasgow.

But Vilhjalmsson reckons the lack of noise inside the one of European football’s most renowned stadiums also proved how well Rosenborg performed.

He said: “The atmosphere surprised me. I thought it should have been a lot better. Maybe it was quiet because we played so well.

“The crowd would have thought that Celtic would easily beat us, but they didn’t succeed.

“They started to get annoyed and turned on their own players. It was a delicious feeling when their fans started shouting at their players.

“I actually think it will be better at our Lerkendal Stadium next week. I think we have the best supporters in Scandinavia.

“I think the tie is 50/50. Celtic will be better in a week’s time and they will have some players back.

“We are certainly not taking anything for granted.”