CELTIC debutant Matt O’Riley admits he was blown away by the Tynecastle atmosphere as he said he has never experienced anything like it in his career to date.

The midfielder was given a baptism of fire by being thrown in for his first start in a Celtic jersey against Hearts, but he thrived on the pressure by turning in a hugely impressive performance in the 2-1 win.

And afterwards he said that he will only get better as he gets used to the speed of the Scottish game.

When asked how he found his debut, O’Riley said: “Intense! Yeah, definitely.

“Atmosphere was crazy, more than I’ve ever experienced as a player.

“I’ve come from mainly League One where you’ve got fans, but this, I’m not used to it.

“So, it was a good experience for myself in that sense, and I’m just really happy to get the first game under my belt and hopefully I can now push on really well.”

Celtic were cruising at half-time after a blistering opening 45 minutes, but Hearts roared back in the second half and were only denied a leveller as Liam Boyce’s penalty came back off the post.

O’Riley was relieved to hold on for the three points, but said that Celtic allowed the hosts back into the game too easily.

“We didn’t control the game as well as we should have to be honest, we let them get back into it with quite a sloppy goal,” he said.

“They should have scored another with their penalty, so we caused our own problems in that sense.

“But at the end of the day we still won the game, so that’s the main thing.”

O’Riley limped off towards the end of the game, but he allayed any fears that he may have picked up an injury.

“I’m alright, I’m just getting used to it I think,” he said.

“I haven’t played a game in a couple of weeks to be fair, so I think I’m – not getting up to speed – but come that 80th minute mark my calf just seized up a bit.

“It was a tough game so it makes sense.

“I’m really happy with the game overall, and now it’s time to rest up and go again on Saturday.”