Stilian Petrov has warned Celtic that blocking a move to the Premiership is damaging both him and the club. Portsmouth are leading the chase for the Bulgaria international but the Hoops have so far knocked them back.

But the 27-year-old admits the situation is making him increasingly unhappy and his form is suffering. Petrov said: "Of course it is affecting me. This has been dragging on for months. Everybody knows my situation but it's up to Celtic.

"They know how I feel and as soon as they let me talk to someone I'll be happier. Right now my form is poor definitely. I can't hide that. I'm not happy in my situation and so I hope to sort it out quickly."

Celtic lost their third consecutive pre-season game with a humbling 4-0 defeat to DC United in Washington.

And the club's longest-serving player believes their hopes of defending the Bank of Scotland Premier League title and making an impact in the Champions League are doomed.

He added: "We are only two weeks away from the start of the league and we don't look as if we can defend our championship. We have been flat in our matches and at the moment we are nowhere near the form that won us the championship last season.

"So if we don't start playing well it will be a very hard season. I fear for us in the Champions League with performances like this. Every mistake is punished and it's the whole team who are to blame."