"It's been a really hard four months. It's still going to be hard to break in as a regular starter but hopefully some day that will happen and if I keep coming off the bench and making an impact it will be sooner rather than later.
"I'm hoping it's not going to take as long as three years but I definitely knew it was going to take three or four months. Hopefully I'm going to get more time on the pitch now.
The former Derry City man, who reportedly vomited after his first training session with new Manager Gordon Strachan, has hardly hit the ground running since joining the Club. The difference in training regimes that lead to an injured abductor muscle have seen the affable Irishman experiencing only one kind of luck - bad luck.
"After about four days here I picked up an abductor injury and was out for two weeks and missed the pre-season trips away.
"When I came back I was doing double sessions nearly every day. It has been hard and some days you're in working until half four but I've really enjoyed it as well. I'm hoping I'm not far away now."
McCourt now feels that his hard work and endeavor is paying off; "I've been performing a lot better in training, getting stronger, and the more games I come on in, the more match fit I'll get.
Paddy also feels that he has a lot to learn about his new team mates, and has stated that he was not aware of the level of talent that his new team mates have;"The quality of the players here has surprised me. Sometimes, from the outside looking in, you don't appreciate just how good the lads are.
"It's when you see them and work with them on a daily basis you realise they're really top players, top professionals. They don't leave anything to chance and that's taken me a wee bit by surprise. Everyone at the club has impressed me, there's not a bad player at Celtic.
"Sometimes before you see them up close you think, 'He's not a great player, or he's not doing this', but when you get in among it all you see every one of them is a really good player.
"I got asked a few questions when I went back to Derry recently, like 'When are you going to get a game?', but I knew when I signed here it was going to be a hard few months and that I had to knuckle down and get my fitness levels up.
"I've been working hard every day so hopefully now I'll get the pay-off.
"The more minutes I get on the pitch the more I can hopefully start to create and score a few goals.
Not having had the benefit of seeing too much of Paddy other than his cameo role on Saturday it is hard to comment on what he may bring to the team. What he did seem to display was a bit of guile, a good touch and an eye for a team mates run.
Keep up the good work Paddy
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt