AFTER injury ended his season prematurely, Joe Ledley’s thoughts naturally turned towards the start of the new campaign.
AFTER injury ended his season prematurely, Joe Ledley-s thoughts naturally turned towards the start of the new campaign.
And first-up will be Celtic-s tour of Australia at the start of July, which will see the Hoops contest three games against A-League opposition in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney as Neil Lennon steps up his preparation for the new season.
It-s the first time the midfielder will have visited Down Under and he couldn-t contain his excitement about the trip – if not the long-haul journey.
“I-ve never been before so I-m looking forward to it,” he said. “I-m not looking forward to the plane, though. The flight is about 20 hours long so it won-t be fun.
“But I can’t wait to start the matches out in Australia. I think there will be some good teams out there.
“When I played with Robbie Fowler at Cardiff I knew he was going to Queensland and he’s now at Perth so I looked out for him, but apart from that I don-t really know much about football over there.
“I think they will be physical and hard, and their season will be just about to start too so it will be a good challenge for us.”
Almost a year ago Ledley first met up with new team-mates en route to the pre-season tour of America after completing his move from Cardiff City.
Although that time stateside allowed him to settle into his new surroundings, he is looking forward to a more relaxed time in Australia – particularly as he won-t have to showcase his vocal talents.
“I met everyone for the first time at Heathrow and headed over to America with them from there,” he explained.
“It was hard because I couldn-t exactly go along the plane shaking everyone-s hand so it was difficult at first.
“I was rooming on my own as well which probably made it a slower process in getting to know everyone but it-s always nice to have your own space and I still managed to settle in straight away.
“I had to sing a song though on my first night there because I was one of the new boys. I sang R Kelly-s I Believe I Can Fly but it only lasted about five seconds. I was the first one who had to get up so I had to set the standard.”
PERTH GLORY v CELTIC FC
nib Stadium
Saturday, 9 July
Kick-off 5pm
