Erik Sviatchenko welcomed the birth of his son, William, in the early hours of Saturday morning before rushing off to play his part in the lunchtime win over Hearts.

Sviatchenkos’s partner, Anne Rudmose – who has signed for Celtic ladies – was described as “fresh” by the Hoops defender who was thrilled with the new addition.

“They are both in the hospital and looking fresh,” he told Celtic TV. “Everything is a blessing at the moment.”

And the Danish defender believes that while there were deficiencies in the victory over Hearts on Saturday that the Hoops deserve to be applauded for the manner in which they came back from an early set-back to win the game.

“After five minutes we were behind 1-0 but we showed that character that we need if we want to succeeed,” He said. “If you don’t have that then you find it difficult to win games but we showed it against Hearts.

“It was a massive performance with our chest held high. Game wise it was not so good but the most important thing is we have the right attitude and we win the game.”

And the defender was delighted to see not only the impressive brace from Patrick Roberts but also the fact that Celtic have taken a significant step towards the title.

The Danish internationalist arrived at the club in the January transfer window determined to play a part in a successful, winning side and he believes he is well on his way to achieving that.

“It was really nice to see Patrick show his skills and in general people were there in the game, communicating well and there were lots of positive things attitude wise,” he said. “We can improve but that is ok.

“There are lots of good things happening at the moment. To win something and be remembered for winning something were my exact words when I first came here and I know that we can now.”