Birmingham City signing James McFadden admits he came close to joining Celtic last week.

The former Everton attacker told the Daily Record: "Celtic tried to take me on loan before the transfer window opened and I was keen on it at the time but I didn't speak with Gordon Strachan.

"However I'm delighted to come to Birmingham - it will work even better for my career. It's a bigger challenge.

"I don't know what happened at the end. Celtic never came in for with a bid for me then Alex McLeish really showed he wanted me here and that was a big thing."