THE road towards playing for his favourite club was pitted with potholes and marked by stumbles from Anthony Stokes.

Yet he has found a satisfaction at Celtic Park with an extended contract the best riposte to the controversies that have dogged his life. The Republic of Ireland striker is blunt about indiscretions that have scarred his career, particularly at Sunderland, but yesterday talked with conviction of maturing under the demands of family life.

Sitting at Lennoxtown, the Republic of Ireland striker disclosed he was set to sign an extended contract at the champions and could talk of the satisfaction of playing for a team he loves and in a city that has become a comfortable home.

The journey for Stokes has, however, hit periods of turbulence since his days as a feted Arsenal youth player. It is somewhat curious, given Celtic's opponents in Sunday's William Hill Scottish Cup final, that it was Hibernian who rescued his career. Stokes admitted his spell at Sunderland from 2006 to 2009 had been frustrating with a total of 36 appearances over three seasons interspersed by unsatisfying loan spells at Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.

A move to Edinburgh, where he was reunited with John Hughes, his manager at Falkirk, provided Stokes with the chance to play and he repaid his manager with goals.

"I just needed to get out and playing. I hadn't been getting a game for over a year at sunder land," he said. " That's why I went to Hibs. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my career because I'd a great spell there and, obviously, got the move here."

His period in England was difficult for both player and club. "Sunderland wasn't a great time for me because I was only 17 when I moved and I hadn't settled down as much as I'd have liked," he said "I will be the first one to say that I was a bit wild back then to say the least.

"Listen, I have a kid now and things like that change you. I feel much more settled up here. When you're playing regularly in the side – that's all you want. I'm loving it now.

Stokes, at 24, is far from repentant. 'I don't shake my head at the things that happened as I was a young lad – I made mistakes like anyone," he said. 'If I could turn back time of course I'd change a lot of what I did but I can't. You just take it as an experience and move on. That's the way to look at it. Of course, it can be difficult at that age when you are getting big money. Sometimes it can be hard to stay focused."

The forward was depressed at not playing and his experience at Hibs, where he scored 22 goals in a sensational season, brought both a personal satisfaction and a move to Celtic in 2010.

'The biggest thing for me at Sunderland was that I wasn't in the team and that's the hardest thing ever as a footballer – when you know regardless of how well you train that you are not going to play," he said.

Stokes has moved on from that barren spell but he has encountered lurid headlines at Celtic, most notably over his appearance at a memorial service for a member of the Real IRA.

"It was a difficult time, without a doubt. I felt under a lot of pressure but it drove me on as well," said Stokes, who was out with an ankle injury that kept him on the sidelines for six months of the season.

He believes he is only now finding his full form after that extended period out of the side.

"I just worked as hard as I could and I think it has paid off," he said. "The last three or four weeks have seen me only really getting over that injury now. It usually takes eight or nine games to get back into but in the last month I have felt fit and strong and coming back to my best."

He has not yet become a mentor for younger players at the club, believing his misdemeanours may have ruled him out of that role.

'It's hard for me to talk to young boys here after what I've done," he said. 'I can't really speak to people about decisions they make. I know some of the lads have pulled some of the younger ones and had a word in their ears."

He insists he has changed. 'The penny dropped for me probably when I went to Hibs but even more so in the past year or two since I've had my kid," he said. 'I've just settled down more – it just happens. It's a natural progression in life."

He was mystified at where suggestions have come from that he and the manager, Neil Lennon, are not kindred spirits.

"The gaffer has always been good to me. Everyone has in their head that the gaffer and I don't get on but I don't know where that surfaced from," he said. "You are never going to get on with a manager day in, day out, when you're on a three or four year contract but the most important thing is that you respect what he says. With me, he just tells it as it is and that's what I respect about him. I've never gone into his office and come out thinking: 'he's having me on – he's just trying to keep me happy.' As a footballer, that's all you really want – for the gaffer to be honest with you and he has always been 100 % with me."