Caley Thistle forward Edward Ofere has no fear about facing Celtic in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, having already scored against them on Premiership duty last weekend.
Ofere netted his second goal in as many league starts in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against the Parkhead club, earning Inverness a point ahead of this weekend’s Hampden Park showpiece.
The Nigerian attacker joined Caley Jags in February after being released by Norwegian club Sogndal, and has also played in Sweden, Denmark as well as in his homeland.
During a two-year spell with Italian club Lecce between 2010 and 2012, when the club was in Serie A, Ofere came up against some of European football’s household names.
Having got off to a fine start in Scotland, the 29-year-old is confident he can meet the challenge of helping to steer Caley Thistle to a first Scottish Cup final with a victory against Ronny Deila’s side on Sunday.
Ofere said: “I have played against the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan and Roma.
“Celtic is also a big team for me to play against. Scoring a goal against them gave me the edge to really prove myself in Scotland.
“I’m really excited about that, so I’m going to keep working hard.
“It’s been physical in Scotland, from what I’ve seen so far. I’m well used to that from playing in Scandinavia where they play physical football as well.
“It doesn’t come that difficult for me.
“I have played cup games but not semi-finals. This is an important game for me. We have a chance to get to the final.”
Ofere says Inverness must not worry about the threat posed by Celtic, and is keen for John Hughes’ side to show confidence from the start following their draw last weekend
Ofere added: “We have to match the capabilities of their players.
“We did that on Saturday. If we can match up them and the qualities they have, we will give them a good game.
“It’s going to be an open game so if we just try to play, hopefully we can keep ourselves calm and take our chances.
“Tactically, everything has to go back to the drawing board to see what they can do in the next game.
“We are just going to focus on our part of the game. I don’t have to focus about what Celtic are going to do against me.”