Carlton Cole has expressed his delight at taking another step closer to his Celtic debut.

The 32-year-old former West Ham striker signed for the Scottish champions last month as a free agent until 2017 and in the bid to further build up his fitness he played in a bounce game against Livingston at the Lennoxtown training centre last week.

Cole did not get on the scoresheet in the 4-1 victory but was happy to get an hour’s action ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock on Saturday where he will hope to get some game time.

“I needed that game last week because it has been so long since I’ve played,” he told Celtic View.

“Just being out there among the lads was great.

“I was supposed to only play 45 minutes but with the person I am, if I feel like I can do a bit more, I’ll do it. I asked the manager if I could do an extra 15 and they all know where I’m at but I’ve got to control that to make sure I don’t get injured again.”

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