Mjallby says

tions, I see him as someone who can score 15, 16, 17 goals from midfield every season. He’s a good finisher, good in the air and has great energy. He is capable of even more and that’s the exciting part of it.” Mcinnes’ own first impressions date back to watching Ferguson play against Aberdeen youth sides for Hamilton. He remembers not being able to work out whether he was right or leftfooted, which is unusual these days. “That probably says a lot about me right enough!” he added.

There was no doubting his quality even if Mcinnes was initially unaware of the player’s notable ancestry as son of ex-rangers, Hearts and Sunderland midfielder

“I see Lewis as someone who can score 15, 16, 17 goals from midfield every season. He’s a good finisher, good in the air and has great energy”

DEREK MCINNES (PICTURED LEFT)

Derek Ferguson and nephew of Barry, the Aberdeen manager’s former Ibrox team-mate.

“I quickly worked out who he was when I looked down the team-sheet and it dawned on me he was Derek’s boy,” said Mcinnes. “His mum and dad are a brilliant influence on him. They couldn’t be more pleased the way things have gone for him up here. They have been huge supporters of Lewis.”

There’s ample evidence of this background now but one of the principal clues is Ferguson’s ferocious and very familiar will to win – which sometimes surfaces as anger.

“Although I didn’t know Lewis, I thought I did and I thought I knew what I was getting,” he said. “I watched him playing for Hamilton’s youth teams against my youth teams at times and he always left a wee impression.

“Ilikedhisnarkinessattimesaswell, that disappointment and rage when his team didn’t win. I liked this confidence and strength, as well as all the technical stuff on his left and right foot.

“The way he runs, heads, tackles and kicks. Everything he does seems natural,” added Mcinnes.

“When we signed him, you never know how people will deal with it. It’s quite a big thing for Lewis to come away from his family, he moved into a flat up here and had to deal with that.

“But from the first day, we did a testing and he was right up there, and I have a fit team. He looked like a boy who was ready to play, ready to show his team-mates what he was about. It looked as if he had been preparing for that first day.” The Scandinavian connection has provided Celtic with personnel capable of producing real pyrotechnics. One of that number, Johan Mjallby, believes in Kristoffer Ajer the club have a young man who can go down a bomb.

The Norwegian centre-back has come of age this season, despite being still only 20. Yet that hasn’t stopped his Swedish predecessor at the heart of the Celtic defence having long been on a countdown with Ajer.

“I’ve seen a lot of him and I’ve actually been waiting on him exploding, to a certain degree. He caught my eye when he started to play,” said Mjallby. “Now he’s got more experi