Tom Rogic ready to put Celtic injury behind him

Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic feels he is ready to put his "nightmare" injury worries behind him and finally establish himself in Glasgow.

Rogic arrived at Parkhead in January 2013 but has only managed to make five starts and 15 appearances all in for Celtic after picking up a serious groin injury.

The 22-year-old Australian spent the first half of last year on loan with Melbourne Victory in his home country as he attempted to battle back from injury but said he is now ready to impress boss Ronny Deila and win a place in the Celtic side.

"It was a bit of a nightmare," Rogic said. "I don't want to get into it too much. I had a serious groin injury. I feel I've come out the other side of that.

"It was a pretty testing time. I never thought it would be as long as it was.

"It's hard to put into words, it was pretty difficult. But that's past me now. I just want to be positive and look to the future."

Rogic will have done his chances of first team football no harm after impressing in Celtic's 2-0 friendly win over Den Bosch in midweek.

He kept his place in the starting 11 for the Hoops 5-3 defeat to Dukla Prague on Saturday despite the return of nine players given extra time off because of international duty.

And the former Central Coast Mariners midfielder said he is just happy to be back and getting minutes on the pitch.

"It's good to get games," Rogic said. "I'm just happy to be out there. It's enjoyable and I just want to build on it. I'm feeling really good.

"There are a lot of good players but I will do everything I can."

Rogic, who has won nine caps for Australia, said he plans on using team mate Nir Bitton as inspiration, with the Israel midfielder becoming a key player last season after taking time to adapt to the Scottish game.

"We came to the club at similar times," Rogic said.

"Nir had a bit of a slow start and proved with a run of games what a quality player he is. So of course I take confidence from that."

Celtic were well beaten by the Czech side in the friendly at St Mirren Park but Rogic feels they can quickly improve ahead of the Champions League qualifiers.

"They made it tough for us but we were too open and we need to be better," Rogic said.

"It's only the second game of pre-season and for most of the lads starting it was their first. There is always going to be a bit of rust so I don't think it's anything too serious to worry about."