SCOTT Allan last night insisted he won’t be affected by the controversy which has surrounded his transfer from Hibs to Celtic and expressed confidence he will be able to force his way into the first team at Parkhead.

Allan had been the subject of three bids from Rangers, the club he grew up in Glasgow supporting as a boy, and he handed in a transfer request at the end of last month in an attempt to facilitate a move to Ibrox.

However, the Easter Road club were unprepared to sell the 23-year-old central midfielder, the Championship Player of the Year last season, to their main challengers for the second tier title.

He signed a four year contract with the Scottish champions on Friday night after a cash plus player deal – Liam Henderson will spend the season on loan at the capital outfit – was agreed.

The former Scotland Under-21 internationalist’s decision to join Celtic has provoked a strong reaction from a section of the Rangers support and threats against him by Hibs fans on social media are also being investigated by police.

But the player, who stressed he will continue to live in Glasgow, stated he had not had any contact with Rangers and is confident he will be able to perform to the best of his abilities at Celtic despite the response to his decision.

“It’s football, isn’t it?” he said. “This is the decision I made for my best interests. I’m sure there will be other players who go on to do well for them (Rangers).

“It’s 2015, you know what I mean? Things have moved on, Celtic have had great players in the past who have done it (played for them successfully after supporting Rangers).

“For me, it’s just about working hard, trying to force my way into the team and taking it from there. The thought process for me was ‘what’s best for my football career?’. That’s why I made the decision.

“It was as clear as that - going up a division and the chance of European football. It’s the chance for me to train and develop with really good international players. It’s a place where I know I will progress.

“I’m just looking forward to getting started here. My mindset is always that way. If you let things outside your football affect you then you are not going to go on and do good things. For me, it’s about when I am out on the park. That’s when I come to life and that’s why I play football.”

Allan, who started out at Dundee United before spending spells at West Brom and Portsmouth, Milton Keynes Dons and Birmingham City in England on loan, had been tipped to sign a pre-contract agreement with Rangers in January.

But he stressed he hadn’t considered the prospect of remaining at Hibs and moving to his childhood heroes for nothing at the end of the 2015/16 campaign when Celtic made their interest known last week.

Asked if he was tempted to hold out for a move to Rangers, he said: “No, not for me. When Celtic came in, I weighed up those factors and it was easy for me.”

Allan will face stiff competition for a place in Ronny Deila’s starting line-up, but he believes he can feature for them both in domestic competition and in Europe in the coming months.

He said: “I believe in my own ability and the chance to train with better players is only going to make you better player. Most of my play is reading other people’s moves and picking my passes. Celtic have the quality here to allow me to do more of that.”