Rogic keeping himself grounded

Rogic keeping himself grounded

Published Feb. 6, 2013 7:15 a.m. ET

Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike claims to have shrugged off reports linking him with an imminent move to England.

The Nigeria international has seen his profile rise considerably during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

He has found the target on three occasions at that tournament, helping his country to the semi-final stage.

It is now being suggested that Emenike could be the next Nigerian to grace the Premier League.

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Reading, Liverpool and Arsenal are all said to have sent scouts to watch the 25-year-old in action, but he is paying little attention to the speculation at present.

"I am playing in Russia at the moment and I have a contract that I intend to respect," said Emenike.

"But to be linked with the Premier League is a dream come true.

"I would love to play there in my career. There are many great clubs there."

The hosts were entertaining the biggest number of Sky Blues fans (31,054) since they played in the Charity Shield at Wembley in 1987 and ultimately paid the price for their strong desire to record a famous victory.

Robins' side dominated the first half but could not find the breakthrough and were made to pay for that by some ruthless finishing by the Railwaymen after the break, coming after goalkeeper Joe Murphy was replaced by Chris Dunn at half-time having fallen victim to a hamstring injury.

"I wouldn't attach any blame whatsoever to the goalkeeper," Robins said.

"I thought we were a victim of our own incredible support. We wanted to try and win the game here and it was naive. It's not a one-off event, we had to try and stay in the game.

"If you can't score then you draw 0-0. The players know that. They just got carried away in trying to score for the supporters because you knew the roof was going to lift off if we did. It was electric in here.

"We created numerous chances and couldn't take any so we became anxious and continued to try and get the goal. I wanted them to try and get the goal so fair play to them but we were naive.

"We left the middle of the pitch wide open and didn't get behind the ball. It was disappointing. They had seven shots all game and had three goals."

The Australian forward arrived in Glasgow's East End after securing a switch from A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners.

But his rise from the amateur leagues of Australia has been swift, having only signed professional terms with the Mariners in January last year.

The Australia international, however, insists he must now convince Hoops boss Neil Lennon that he has the ability to back up his potential and secure a place in the SPL champions' line-up.

Rogic, 20, told the Celtic View: "The past year has been massive for myself. I signed my first professional contract in January last year, this is pretty much 12 months on, so I have done quite well since then.

"I have progressed at a fast rate so it's been a great 12 months and hopefully I can continue to develop and go forward in my career.

"There were probably times when I doubted what was going to happen in my football career.

"The past 12 months have been great but it certainly hasn't come without hard work. I know that.

"This is really just the beginning and I have a long way to go and a lot of things to work on before I can consider myself a good footballer.

"But I feel I am in the right hands and in the right place here at Celtic.

"It's a step up from what I'm used to but something I feel I can adapt to and I'm just looking forward to developing and progressing here as a player, and hopefully I can contribute to the club's success over time.

"I have had a big year, made my debut for the Socceroos so to now sign for Celtic, I am really proud of it and I'm looking forward to getting started."

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