Bobo Balde believes the signing of Roy Keane will help secure the Bank of Scotland Premier League title for Celtic.
The 34-year-old midfielder marked his belated return to the side with his first goal in the Hoops as his team-mates moved 10 points clear of Hearts with a 2-1 victory over Falkirk.
The former Manchester United captain impressed, havingreplaced rested skipper Neil Lennon, which leaves manager Gordon Strachan with a major midfield dilemma.
Celtic go to Ibrox with an incredible 18-point lead over Rangers but the Parkhead boss must decide whether to bring Lennon back in at the expense of Keane or Stilian Petrov or try to accommodate all three of them.
Guinea defender Balde, back at Parkhead after representing his country at the African Nations Cup, has been impressed by what he has seen of Keane so far.
"Roy played well and his arrival will help us win the league," the 30-year-old said.
"I am delighted to be back, delighted to have played and to have won the game (against Falkirk). We have done enough to win the game and the most important thing was getting the three points.
"Hearts drew and Rangers lost so we are happy to go further ahead by winning. We have to keep trying to get better and we did that after not looking too good in games.
"We have conceded a lot of goals so we were happy to see this one through. To be honest I would have preferred to have kept a clean sheet but it was vital to win the game.
"Falkirk gave us problems and kept on fighting to the last minute but we are confident going to Rangers now."
