BARRY Bannan wants to make a success of his time with Wanderers to help his boyhood hero Neil Lennon.

The on-loan midfielder used to watch his manager from the stands at Celtic – but now he must help him fix problems and ensure the Whites do not start to slip towards the bottom reaches of the Championship.

Bannan has signed until the end of the season from Crystal Palace and could hardly have expected to wear the captain’s armband in his first game, inheriting the role from the injured David Wheater at half time.

But while the Scotland international looks forward to the chance of kick-starting his career, he admits there was little about his debut which will live in the memory.

“Everything has been brilliant since I came in, apart from this,” he said on the touchline at the iPro Stadium.

“We’ve been hammered and it’s hard to take.

“Everyone in the changing room is down but we’ve got a game on Tuesday to put things right. It’s about re-grouping now.”

After a couple of years as a youth at Celtic, Bannan broke into professional football at Aston Villa in the Premier League. But his move to Selhurst Park did not go according to plan and he made just 23 appearances in 18 months in South London.

"I needed to get out and play football,” he said. “I have been in and out at Palace for the last few years. There were times when I tried to get out but couldn't.

"I could have stayed and got games now and again until the end of the season. But I want to play every game. I want to feel part of a team and feel loved.

"In the first week or two here I already feel part of it.

“As soon as I got this opportunity I jumped at it. To work under this manager is a big thing for me.”

Bannan could have been at Wanderers six months earlier, with Dougie Freedman unsuccessful in his attempts to sign him in the summer.

But the lure of working with Lennon, who was a midfielder in his prime at the time Bannan was coming through the Parkhead ranks, made him determined to push a move through.

In the end, his loan move was linked-in with the deal for Palace to sign Chung-Yong Lee and the midfielder watched last weekend’s Old Firm game keeping his fingers crossed everything would run smoothly.

“I knew Bolton had been in touch but I was up there to watch a massive game, having grown up supporting Celtic,” he said.

"I used to go to games when the manager was playing for them. He was one of my idols so it is great to come and work under him as a midfielder and pick up tips from him.

“Things haven’t gone right in my first game but we’ll take it on the chin and bounce back with two wins at the Macron Stadium.”