All in a day’s graft for Ferdinand as English veteran proves a rock for his new team

ANTON FERDINAND could barely summon the energy to make it to the touchline.

Exhausted after starting his first competitive match in five months against a dominant yet ultimately frustrated Celtic side, St Mirren’s new signing admits he was dead on his feet as he was substituted to acclaim on Friday night.

Ferdinand’s debut contribution went a long way towards securing the Paisley side a point against the champions and ensuring a fine start for new manager Oran Kearney.

The centre-back may have looked weary as he trudged off the pitch, but he insists he took as much pleasure from the experience as the buoyant home crowd.

‘I’m tired but I enjoyed it,’ reflected the Londoner (right) after catching his breath in the wake of a 0-0 draw. ‘I have trained five days in the last two months, played 60 minutes in a reserve team game about two months ago, so I was dead on my feet coming off the pitch.

‘Playing against Celtic reminded me of playing against the champions of England. That’s what those games tend to be like — attack versus defence. But fair play to our manager — he put something in place for us and we executed it well. It worked and we got a point.’ A product of the fabled youth academy at West Ham and a Premier League veteran, it is safe to say Ferdinand knew little about St Mirren before pitching up on trial last week. Yet, after two years in England’s League One with Southend, the 33-year-old insists he is excited by the challenge of moving north of the border. Signed just a few hours before kick-off and pitched in to steady a defence that leaked goals and lacked organisation under Alan Stubbs, Ferdinand was a rock.

He continued: ‘I am happy to be at St Mirren, to play in this league and, hopefully, keep us in this league. I am just a boy that wants to play football, wherever my career takes me.

‘Everyone has a path, and I just want to play football. I’m a boy from Peckham who has lived his dream and is still living the dream to play football at a high level.

‘To come up here to Scotland and play in the Premier League is a really high level. I’m here to do play well and enjoy it.’

Ferdinand can number Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce and Roy Keane among his former managers but seems genuinely impressed with the way Kearney has tackled life in his new job in Scotland.

Overlooked when the club sought a

replacement for the departed Jack Ross in the summer, the former Coleraine manager got his opportunity after Stubbs was sacked just 77 days after being employed by the newly promoted club.

Instantly, the Northern Irishman looks to have energised a side that looked destined for a long fight at the bottom of the Premiership.

‘I have seen things already which make me think he can be a success,’ said Ferdinand, who has penned a contract that will take him to the end of the season.

‘I’ve worked with hundreds of managers in my time and, take it from me, you wouldn’t know he has just come out of part-time football from the way he’s been on the training pitch and in the changing room. The way he’s acted has been impressive.

‘It took guts to play the way we did against Celtic. It was his first competitive game in full-time football. He believes in the boys, he believes in his own ability as a manager which I think everyone saw during the game.’

As signings go, Ferdinand counts as not a bad first act. Kearney wants the former England Under-21 cap to act as a leader and he is happy to oblige.

‘I am far from done in terms of playing football,’ added Ferdinand. ‘But I am 33 now and I like helping the younger players.’