Celtic new boy Pat McCourt insists he is ready to fulfil the potential which earned him a Northern Ireland cap at the age of 18.

Gordon Strachan's first signing of the summer was unveiled at Celtic Park on Thursday, where he discussed a career which has taken the 24-year-old to Rochdale, then back across to Ireland for spells with Shamrock Rovers and Derry City, before a dream move to his boyhood heroes which was finalised last week.

McCourt was a teenage prodigy at Spotland when he was picked by then Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy to play against Spain at Windsor Park and there was speculation about a move to the Premier League.

However, his career never took off as expected and he returned to Ireland.

McCourt, who was signed for an undisclosed fee by the Scottish champions on a three-year deal, laughed off suggestions by his former Shamrock Rovers manager Roddy Collins that he was as good as George Best and better than new team-mate Aiden McGeady.

But the Irishman insists he is ready to show his true quality to the Celtic fans.

"I can't help what other people say," he said.

"Roddy is his own man and he has got his own opinions. I know he rates me highly but I think he is going a bit overboard and I had a laugh to myself when I read it.

"Sammy McIlroy once said I was going to be the next big thing for Northern Ireland and there was a lot of talk about me going to the Premier League.

"I tried not to let it affect me but when I look back it did affect me a bit. I took my foot off the gas and stopped doing the things I was doing the first couple of years."

McCourt added: "I probably thought I had done enough at that age.

"You hear people saying all these nice things about you although I would not say I turned into a bad young player or anything like that.

"I just maybe thought I had done enough to get that move to the Premier League.

"I had to sort of take a step back and go back to enjoying my football, doing what I was doing the first three years which was going out on to the pitch and not worrying about anything."

McCourt insists he will be able to deal with the scrutiny that comes with playing for the Bhoys.

"I think I can handle the pressure, to be honest," McCourt added.

"I am looking forward to getting to know the rest of the boys, putting in a good pre-season, and hopefully, take it from there.

"This is something in my life I will never forget and it has the potential to be life changing.

"So I will get my head down and work hard for the next three years and you never know what might happen."

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