MIKAEL Lustig admits he is desperate to prolong his stay at Celtic - but has heard nothing from the club about a contract extension. The Swedish international full back has been a mainstay at Parkhead since Neil Lennon signed him from Norwegian side Rosenborg back in January 2012, but finds his future up in the air with his current deal due to expire this summer. While the 29-year-old is settled personally and professionally in Glasgow, Lustig could theoretically speak to other interested parties as early as January and would love to get matters sorted as soon as possible.
“There’s been no movement," said Lustig. "I’m in my last season and we haven’t discussed the contract so we will see what happens. But I want to stay. I’m really happy here and have been here for five years. I’ve loved every minute of my time here.”
After their thrilling 3-3 Champions League draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night, the Parkhead side now face back-to-back meetings with German outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach. While two wins would keep alive unlikely hopes of reaching the last 16, perhaps a more realistic expectation is four points from the two matches, which would be sufficient to keep them in the box seat when it comes to Europa League qualification.
“When you lead three times you wants to take the points but we have to be realistic and recognise we faced one of the best teams in the world," said Lustig. “The support from the fans was unbelievable and it was needed for a game like this. But we didn’t take a point against City just because we fought for the ball – we played good football. We pressed them very well and that’s the main reason we got the point.
“We go to the next game full of confidence," he added. "It will be tough – Moenchengladbach were the best team in pot three along with Tottenham. Maybe people won’t know much about them but to be top three in the Bundesliga two years in a row shows that they are a good side. They almost took a point from Barcelona but once again we want to build on this."
The midweek performance was a huge vote of confidence in Brendan Rodgers' aggressive pressing style after the 7-0 reverse to Barcelona on the opening match day. “In Barcelona we only had two or three chances and not a lot of the ball but in this game we put them under pressure and they couldn’t really handle it," said Lustig. "We tried to keep the ball and be offensive – of course that’s part of the reason we lost 10 goals in two games. But it’s not often you see Manchester City playing long balls all the time and we did what we wanted to do – that was scoring when we got the chance."
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