Anthony Stokes wants to kick off his Celtic career by scoring a debut goal against the team he relished hitting the net against last season while with Hibernian. The striker, a deadline-day mover from Edinburgh to Glasgow, will come face-to-face with Hearts on Saturday.
Stokes scored twice against the Gorgie club last campaign on his way to being Hibs’ top scorer, in a season where he scored 23 times for John Hughes’ side.
That form earned him a £1.2 million move to Celtic and, having seen his debut delayed by the international break, Stokes is eager to make an immediate impact by repeating his goalscoring form against his old rivals.
“The Hearts games were brilliant, there was always a great atmosphere and the lads were well up for it,” said Stokes of his appearances in the Edinburgh derby last campaign.
“I've been lucky enough to score a few goals against them so hopefully I can get a few more.
“I don't think I'm going to get a good reception [from the Hearts fans] but that's part and parcel of football.”
Stokes will battle it out with Gary Hooper, Georgios Samaras and Daryl Murphy for a regular start in Neil Lennon’s side. But the Republic of Ireland international has pinpointed his countryman and former Sunderland team-mate Murphy as the perfect foil for him to get amongst the goals.
“We played with each other at Sunderland and did quite well," Stokes said. “He's bit more of a target man, more physical than I am and I think we could do well.
“We have an understanding because we trained together at Sunderland for two years and played a lot of games together.
“So we have a fair idea of what runs we are going to make and bits and pieces like that.”
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