SHANE Duffy couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Celtic career, with two goals in his first two games. The Irishman netted on his debut in the 5-0 win over Ross County at Dingwall last Saturday, and he followed that up with another goal in the midweek win over St Mirren in Paisley.

His headed goal cancelled out Lee Erwin’s early opener, before James Forrest provided the winner with a rare header. And the 28-year-old defender praised the provider of both midweek goals, with Ryan Christie delivering some potent crosses into the St Mirren box.

Speaking at Lennoxtown today (Thursday), Duffy said: “I’m enjoying it again and it’s good to be part of the team again. I’m still early in my career here and I’m looking forward to playing as many games as I can.

“Hopefully more games will make me feel sharper and bond with the team more. It’s been a good start and the lads have been brilliant with me.

“Ryan’s a real creative player. I was buzzing with his deliveries, which are brilliant for us. He’s a quality player and he shows it training. I’m excited to keep playing with him and hopefully he can put more on my head!

“There’s no target, I’m just taking it game by game and I’ll see how many goals I can get. Hopefully it helps the team, which is the most important thing.”

Celtic’s win over St Mirren, one of two games in hand, put them second in the table ahead of Hibernian on goal difference. And Neil Lennon’s side know that victory over Livingston on Saturday will put them back on top of the Premiership.

“We know all these games are important to us,” Duffy said. “We started sloppy against St Mirren but it was a great reaction and then we controlled the whole game. We also had a penalty miss and a lot of chances.

“I was fuming with myself for the first goal for being sloppy. I wanted to just get back in the lead and that was it. My standards are high for myself and I want every pass to be perfect so I was getting frustrated. It will come, but I’m still happy with how it went and those passes will come.

“The Livingston game is big because that’s where we want to be. We know we can go top of the league and push on from there and stay there.”

Shane Duffy: I'll keep heading home Ryan's deadly deliveries