Ruairi Daly 
Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Sport
Efe Ambrose has spoken about his sadness after Celtic fans booed him in a game against Barcelona last July.
The 28-year-old is out of contract in the summer, and made his last appearance in a Celtic jersey against the Catalan giants in the International Champions Cup.
Speaking about the incident in Dublin for the first time to the Edinburgh News, he said:
That’s football. I am a defender. I tried to stop it but I slipped and the ball bounced off my shin. It can happen to anyone in football.
You can never predict what is going to happen in football. After that day I was sad about the reaction, but I was just trying to do my job – to defend. I wasn’t trying to kick the ball in the net. I was just trying to defend, that’s my job.
Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong. But when that happens, that’s when you need the people’s support. I didn’t get it that day.
But when they were not doing well that’s when the fans started to pick on players. I never regretted anything. I always tried my best, I always stood up and kept fighting.
Football is like this, there has been criticism but I’ve never allowed it to pull me down in any way. I just come back stronger.
Rodgers’ side have been flying this season and are on a 22 game win streak domestically – a far cry from their first competitive game of this season against Lincoln Red Imps.
Ambrose played a competitive game for the first time since July’s first leg clash with Astana, as Hibernian lost 2-0 to St Mirren in midweek.
The Nigerian international made 169 appearances for Celtic during his time at the club, scoring six goals, but his time at the club has come to an unsurprising end.
He will be in action again for former Hoops boss Neil Lennon at the weekend against Ayr United in the Scottish Cup quarter-final as Celtic take on St Mirren at Paradise.
