Vasilis Barkas insists he has nothing to prove when he returns to Celtic this summer.

The goalkeeper failed to make an impression at Parkhead when he arrived under the leadership of Neil Lennon following a £4.5million move from AEK Athens in 2020.

Barkas has since spent the season on loan at Utrecht, but he will return to Scotland come the end of the season.

The Dutch side would be keen to keep the goalkeeper but they have admitted they won't be able to afford the transfer fee to make the deal permanent.

Asked about his return to form, Barkas told Voetbal International: "My behaviour was very normal. I know what I can do and I don't have to prove myself.

"Only at the weekend (during games), not on the training field. Everything revolves around your mind. That's how I used to be."

Uterecht teammate Tasos Douvikas also backed Barkas for a successful return to Scotland, saying: “Vasilis knows what he is doing. He has saved us several times this season. I can't remember one blunder. Not one!

"He's incredibly consistent. We feel safe with him on target. Maybe he is too good for FC Utrecht.”

Meanwhile, Celtic winger Jota admitted he was in the “flow zone” when he caught the assistant referee with his arm after scoring against St Mirren.

The Portuguese player was waving his team-mates back to their own half after netting a 56th-minute equaliser against the 10-man Buddies and made contact with assistant Ross Macleod.

The urgency proved effective as Celtic were ahead within five minutes and continued to push forward in a 5-1 victory.

Jota said: “The assistant didn’t say anything to me but I was just pushing everyone to go as fast as possible.

“I maybe got over excited because we wanted to do the remontada (comeback), as they say in Spain.

“I just wanted to go as fast as I could and when that happens you are in the flow zone.

“It doesn’t matter who is there, it could be the other coach, but I just want to go as fast as I can.”

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