England's John Terry Admits To Following The Bhoys

After Celtic Finish All Square In The Battle Of Britain

SPL Champions Celtic and EPL Champions Chelsea finished all square last week in the much touted 'Battle of Britain' at Stamford Bridge. Celtic took a lead in the tenth minute when a corner from former Chelsea man, Jiri Jarosik, had the Blues defense at sixes and sevens and Gary Caldwell headed past Carlo.Toward the end of the first-half Shaun Wright-Phillips put Chelsea level when he collected the ball just outside the area and displayed neat footwork before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

After the game at Stamford Bridge Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said the exit of Henrik Larsson has hurt Celtic in the last two years. Larsson scored twice against Mourinho's Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville though the Bhoys went on to lose 3-2. Mourinho said: "The Celtic team now is different to 2003. In the UEFA Cup final, they had a special player in Henrik Larsson, playing the best football of his career. He made a difference in domestic competitions and almost made a difference in the UEFA Cup final with his two goals. Life must be hard without him."

Who'd have believed it? Chelsea captain (and now new England captain), John Terry is a Celtic supporter. Following the game with Celtic Terry told the press. "You won't know this but I have always been a bit of a Celtic fan. There was only one reason I took to them. Like my brother, Paul, I followed Scottish football as well as English football when I was young. He supported Rangers and I wanted some atmosphere in the house, so I went for Celtic. You start doing that as a kid and find yourself looking at their results ever after."

Despite being continually linked with a move away from Parkhead, and indeed requesting a transfer, Stilian Petrov bagged the second of the Bhoys two goals in a 2-0 home win over St. Mirren. Petrov was Celtic's most advanced man late on to pick up man-of-the-match Aiden McGeady's pass to power an all-important second goal following Stephen McManus' first-half header.

Gordon Strachan has dismissed reports that Neil Lennon's absence from the Celtic line-up against St Mirren indicated that the Irishman was leaving Parkhead. After the 2-0 win the Celtic manager said. "Lenny has a real tightness in his hamstring and we left him out along with Paul Telfer, who's suffering from a knock. Lenny was magnificent for us last season and I made him captain. I have a great relationship with him and he could have featured as he played well against Chelsea in midweek."

Gordon Strachan has vowed to fight any ban imposed by the SFA following his dismissal from the touchline in the 2-1 defeat to Hearts. The banishment to the stand during the Tynecastle game comes with an automatic two-match ban but that may be increased as Strachan allegedly made a remark to referee Stuart Dougal. Strachan has a spotless disciplinary record in his management career and he wants to keep it that way. Last week he said: "I received the report on Friday but have not really looked at it. I will look at it over the weekend after we play St Mirren. Once the game is out of the way, we will discuss our options on that. I have never been banned in my life.

With the saga surrounding wantaway Bhoy Stilian Petrov continuing, Celtic captain Neil Lennon has nailed his colors to the mast and stood behind the club's stance of not letting the Bulgarian leave Parkhead until the Hoops get their asking price.

Portsmouth have already had two bids for Petrov rejected and new Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is said to be keen to sign the midfielder. Lennon is quoted as saying. "From our point of view we want Stilian to stay because he's such an influential player for us. When he's in the mood he's unstoppable in some games. If he stays, we have a very strong midfield with the likes of Stan, Shunsuke Nakamura, Aiden McGeady, Jiri Jarosik, Alan Thompson and myself. We have six or seven quality players and that's what you need. It's encouraging that the board haven't taken the first offer for Stan. You want top dollar for your best player and they are quite right to stand their ground."

Derby County have signed Mo Camara on a free transfer. The Guinea left-back, who has previously played in the Championship for Burnley and Wolves, has signed a three-year deal at Pride Park.

Rumors suggest Celtic are hoping to sign Serbia & Montenegro striker Danijel Ljuboja from Stuttgart. Ljuboja has been highly recommended to Gordon Strachan and reports last week said talks about a potential £1.5million transfer were already underway. The 27-year-old only recently signed a permanent deal with Stuttgart following a successful season-long loan from Paris St-Germain, but the Bundesliga club are keen to offload him following a dispute about the terms of his contract.

Celtic midfielder Jiri Jarosik has been called up for this week's friendly against Serbia. Czech Republic coach Karel Brueckner Jarosik recalled Jarosik, who missed out on the Czech World Cup squad, because of the midfielder's recent performances in the Hoops.

It has been confirmed that Celtic have expressed an interest in signing Wolves full back Lee Naylor. Naylor is the longest serving Wolves player having been with the club his whole career. The defender made his debut for Wolves back in October 1997 and is now one game short of his 270th appearance. Wolves boss Mick McCarthy confirmed last week that Naylor had been the subject of official interest from Celtic.

"There has been a bit of interest but I don't know what level it has gone to, but I would expect interest because Lee is a good player." McCarthy told the Wolves website. "When I was considering whether or not to come to Wolves I felt we had lost too many players in the summer to be competitive, but one of the good things was that we had a good left-back in Lee Naylor. I would be reluctant to see him sold but the other side of the coin is that he's only got one year left on his current contract.

He's been offered a new deal and I'd love him to sign." Gordon Strachan is said to be a keen admirer of the 26 year old and has tried to sign him in the past however the full back was always keen on staying and furthering his career at Molineux. Naylor may find it difficult to leave Molineux however the lure of the Champions League may be an offer he's unable to refuse.