GEORGIOS Samaras knew the thunder was returning to Celtic Park when his Rennes opponent told him he could not believe the noise crashing around the stadium.

The Greek striker helped create the electric atmosphere with his performance against the French club during their Europa League victory last Thursday night.

Now, with another crucial success at Motherwell behind them, Sami is confident the dark days are over and that Neil Lennon's men – backed by the support of their fans – can look forward to a much brighter future.

The man who set up two of the goals against Rennes and the equaliser at Fir Park is now one of the club's most exper-ienced players, racking up over 150 games.

During this time he has seen many highs and lows, but never witnessed anything like this season's roller-coaster.

Sami reckons the Rennes win has put them back on a high, and said: "It was a great atmosphere and, when I was doing the drug test with their right-back after the game, he said he was covering his ears for the final 20 minutes because of the noise.

"He said it was absolutely unbelievable. I told him to imagine what it would be like if it was a full house.

"When it is, that's even better for everyone. It's good for us and bad for the opposition as there are some players who can't handle this atmosphere, and that's what we need."

Samaras understands how frustrated some of the supporters have been in recent weeks, but insists there has never been a lack of effort from anyone on the park.

The Greek enigma told the Celtic View: "You cannot be right all of the time in the game.

You are going to make small mistakes, a wrong decision, a bad pass. That's normal. We are not robots.

"But I think when they see the effort we're putting in and that we're going to fight to win the ball back, even if we have made a mistake, they support us.

"When we are flat and make mistakes that's normal and the supporters can be negative. But when we make mistakes and they see our character and spirit, they are positive."

Sami believes the Rennes performance can now be used as launchpad, and said: "We are together every day and don't care what other people say.

"The reason we won against Rennes was not because we played great football or moved the ball fast. It was because of the way we pressed and closed down.

"People say you need to give 100% to win a game – but last Thursday it was more than that."