IT is little surprise when Josip Juranovic admits that his first five months at Celtic have felt more like five years.

The Croatian full-back has been through an awful lot since completing his £2.5m transfer from Legia Warsaw back in August.

He made his debut against Rangers at Ibrox just days after arriving in Scotland and went on to play another 20 games in three different competitions in a number of positions.

Who knows what the second half of the 2021/22 campaign holds for the versatile player and his team mates?

But immersing himself in life at the Parkhead club has given Juranovic an appreciation of what is required to be a success at Celtic and he has fully embraced the demands on him.

He is determined to help the Premier Sports Cup winners triumph in all of their remaining cinch Premiership fixtures, lift the Scottish Cup and complete a domestic treble.

“It feels like I have been here maybe five years!” he said. “But that is because it is a really good club. 

“You will play so many games that maybe your family will not recognise you when you come home! But it’s because of that we love to play football. That’s our lives. If you want to be a big player you will play Champions League and cups. 

“When I came here they said to me that Celtic is the club that wants the trophies and wants to take everything. That is also my mentality and mindset. 

“When I came here I wanted to take everything. Also, in the league I think we need to beat everybody to take the trophy back. We have taken one cup, but we want another. That’s our mentality here.” 

A lengthy injury list forced Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou to hand inexperienced kids starts towards the end of last year and precous Premiership points were dropped against St Mirren as a result.

Juranovic has been pleased to see Postecoglou strengthen this month by bringing in Japanese trio Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda as well as Irish teenager Johnny Kenny.

“They are good guys and they can play really good football,” he said. “You will see them on Monday (in the Premiership match against Hibernian at Parkhead). They have quality and it’s because of that they are here. I cannot wait to see them in full action. 

“The squad is really powerful now. We have maybe 30 players. If unfortunately somebody gets injured we have a replacements. We need good replacements if we want to win trophies. And now we are really like a family here.”  

Juranovic also believes having capacity crowds back in stadiums – First Minister Nicola Sturgeon lifted the cap on attendances at outdoor events on Tuesday – will help Celtic to win games in the second half of the season.

“Our fans were out of the stadium against St Johnstone (at McDiarmid Park on Boxing Day) and I felt sorry for them,” he said. “They needed to be inside the stadium cheering not out on the streets. 

“They are our 12th player on the pitch and we are not the same without them. With them we are a really powerful team. I’m looking forward to hearing them, their songs, and seeing what they will do for us on Monday.”

Juranovic, who Postecoglou has deployed at right back, left back, wing back and on the wing, has done well personally since joining Celtic and established himself as a regular starter.

However, he knows that both he and his side, who are six points behind Rangers in the Premiership with 18 games remaining, must do even better if they want to achieve their objectives this term.

“Each day I want to improve,” he said. “Each game, each training session. I also think I can offer better performances. That’s it. 

“I think we are the best defenders in the league, but we have conceded, not stupid goals, but goals we should not concede from corners and free-kicks. I also think we need to improve our finishing. If we want to win the trophies we need to score goals.” 

The 15-times capped 26-year-old can secure a place in the Croatia squad for the Qatar 2022 finals in November if he continues to perform at a high level for Celtic at home and abroad in the coming months.

But he is concentrating on his club not his country. “My focus is on Celtic,” he said. “If I play good at Celtic I will be at the World Cup. That’s easy. My focus is to win everything here. That’s it. Then we will see about the World Cup.”