Former Celtic defender Efe Ambrose says he has no regrets about his role in Celtic's Champions League loss to Juventus in 2013 - because his only problem was being too committed to the cause.

Ambrose was culpable for two of the Bianconeri's three goals in the Champions League last-16 first-leg clash in February 2013.

Then Hoops manager Neil Lennon made the decision to play the centre-back despite the fact he only arrived back from Nigeria's victorious African Cup of Nations campaign in South Africa on the morning of the Juventus game.

Ambrose insists the pair had agreed he would come back to Parkhead immediately after his AFCON tournament ended and that his involvement in the Juve game was simply a case of both men keeping their word to one another.

“I have no regrets about what happened in the Juventus game," Ambrose, who now plays for Greenock Morton in the Championship, told the Daily Record.

“Maybe my only problem is that I’m too committed. I stuck to my word with the manager.

Celtic Way:

“I told him that straight after the African Nations, I’d be back to play and help the team.

“I didn’t feel a problem with fitness. The games just didn’t go the way we wanted to because we lost.

“A few things happened on the pitch but that’s football. The most important thing to me was that I kept my promise to the manager.

“I felt the team needed me so I’ll never regret it. I could have gone back to Nigeria to pop champagne and celebrate with my team-mates but I didn’t. I kept my word and that’s why Lennon always stood by me.

“People thought I shouldn’t have started and, of course, he could blame me for the goal. But the manager trusted me as a professional.

“In the next two games after Juventus at home, I scored goals for Celtic. That’s football.”

READ MORE: