Odsonne Edouard has insisted that he feels no additional pressure at the Parkhead club despite being the record signing for Celtic. The 20-year-old Frenchman made his loan move from PSG permanent last summer when Celtic paid £9m for his services and despite the outlay, Edouard has maintained that it is not something that causes him any anxiety. "I don't feel any pressure being Celtic's main striker," he said. "I am calm and I just concentrate on doing what I do best, which is to play football.

"When I am playing, I give everything for my team. I am impervious to pressure. I have a quiet strength about me." And Edouard has revealed that Brendan Rodgers was key to him making the move to Celtic on a permanent basis this summer. The Celtic manager's reputation for working and getting the best out of young players was critical in the striker's thinking as he made the step outside of France. Speaking to French magazine Onze Mondia, Edouard said: "I had a good chat with the manager.

"He told me about his projects and ambitions and spoke about what he wanted to do with me.

"I appreciated his words and it just felt like a good feeling with him. I immediately decided there and then I would sign.

"I needed a new challenge and you don't refuse a club like Celtic.

"Brendan Rodgers is a very good coach. From day one, he spoke to me a lot and always encourages me. He is very experienced.

"He has made me a better player and I feel I am progressing very well under him.

"He's an open coach who is very close with his players. I love his management style and the way he wants to play football."

Edouard has netted 12 goals in 26 appearances for Celtic in all competitions this season. The forward has been open about his ambitions to play at the top level and he has revealed that as a kid in Paris, it was Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani who took him under his wing.

"When I was at PSG, he gave me advice every day. Whether it was about my positional sense, my finishing, even my speed, he spoke to me a lot.

"This gave me a massive amount of belief in myself that a great striker like him took time out to speak to me.

"He basically was responsible for me being a striker and he gave me confidence.

"I was also there with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but he was different. I was a kid and that was it. He didn't speak the same language as me so it was not easy to communicate.

"Occasionally, he gave me a few instructions through signs, but there wasn't a lot of exchanges between us." Meanwhile, Ryan Christie has insisted that Celtic will take Kilmarnock's title challenge seriously as the teams met at Celtic Park on Saturday. Killie moved to the top of the league this week and Chrisite is wary of the threat from the Rugby Park side whom Celtic have not beaten in their last four attempts. “We’ll treat Kilmarnock with respect because they are where they are on merit – this isn’t a fluke,” said Christie. “They’ve played some good football and they’re always such a hard team to come up against, which I’m sure will be the case again this weekend.

“But the incentive is clear enough for us – win and we’ll be in first place and that’s where we want to be. A lot has been said about the number of games we’re being asked to play at the moment but we just need to win as many of them as possible and, hopefully, by the time we get to the winter break, we’ll be top of the league.”