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VICTOR WANYAMA: Beating Barcelona with Celtic was a career highlight... but I'm loving my new life with the high-flying Saints

PUBLISHED: 01:30 EST, 30 September 2013 | UPDATED: 08:03 EST, 30 September 2013

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Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama joined Southampton from Celtic for £12.5 million and writes in his debut Footballers' Football Column about adapting to life on the south coast with the high-flying Saints. Wanyama was part on the Celtic side that toppled Barcelona in the Champions League and he looks back on that famous night in Glasgow and ahead to when the two sides meet again this week. Wanyama also reflects on the terrorists atrocities in Nairobi. Before you read his debut column, watch his video below...

Footballers Football Column: Victor Wanyama

Why can't the world live like brothers and sisters? It has been a devastating time for people back in my homeland Kenya following the atrocities of Westgate Mall in Nairobi. It's very sad that things like this happen. We are all one human family and I wish we could all share peace.

We are hearing tales of courage and it will take a lot more courage for the people to get through the aftermath of what has happened. My prayers go out to the families and the victims.

I have spoken to my family back home and everyone will know someone who has been affected by what happened. It has affected the whole country. It was a peaceful place, a place where people went to be happy and now Kenyans must show real strength to come together and support each other.

Winning feeling: Victor Wanyama celebrates with goalscorer Dani Osvaldo as Southampton beat Palace 2-0 at the weekend to move up to fourth in the Premier League

Top class: Rickie Lambert scored for Southampton from a free kick

Impressive guy: Wanyama enjoys working under Saints manager Mauricio Pochettino

The Premier League table looked very nice after the weekend. We are fifth and have the best defensive record along with Tottenham having conceded just two goals.

It's a good start but that's all it is a good start. We deserve to hold our heads high but it's safe to say that we are not getting carried away at Southampton.

Our coach Mauricio Pochettino is an impressive guy. He was a tough defender as a player and has great experience from his time with Argentina and coaching in Spain. He gets his message across easily and understands each player's role. He's very good.

It shows in the way we won against Crystal Palace that it was another good team effort. We played for each other and when you have strikers such as Dani Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert you always have a chance.

Lambert has been fantastic. Everybody knows how much of a threat he poses in the box but his free-kick on Saturday showed he can score from anywhere.

The key for us now is to keep working hard and keep our feet on the ground. We have Swansea and Manchester United to come so there is always another big task around the corner.

I came to the Premier League because I wanted to test myself and move to the next level. There is no doubt it has been tough but I am enjoying it.

The best way to learn is to play against good players and my toughest opponent so far has been Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. I obviously knew about him but playing against him, I learned so much more.

Having a laugh: Jos Hooiveld is the joker in the pack

Tough opponent: Steven Gerrard is the hardest player Wanyama has come up against

More from The Footballers' Column...

He is such a clever player with his movement and his passing. It is hard to get him when he is on the ball and he is always moving into a different position.

I tried to close him down. We knew we had to stop him and close him out of the game. If you allow him, he can destroy your team so we knew it would make it difficult for Liverpool to control the game if we could close him down. We worked harder in the second half and got our goal but it was difficult.

We are a passing team and we moved the ball well enough but I'd still say Liverpool are the toughest team we have faced. Just their playing style and the level of players they have.

A few people asked if I swapped shirts but no I didn't. Sometimes when you have a great result like that I like to keep the shirt for myself.

Afterwards on the coach we were very happy. To win at Anfield was a great result.

I had heard a lot about the atmosphere and it was great. Certainly it seemed strange as they sing a lot of songs I recognise from my time at Celtic, particularly 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

They were probably a bit quieter than Celtic fans though maybe that was because we won.

I am settling in now at Southampton. We have a good group of players and everyone is easy to get on with. The real joker is Jos Hooiveld.

He is a nice lad who I got to know a little bit at Celtic and he has made me feel really welcome since I've been here. He is always up to something. He is very cheeky always making jokes and winding people up saying that they look older than him and he likes to be a little bit crazy at training. It keeps everyone happy.

I am feeling more at home now that I have moved from the first apartment I was in. It's a new house near Winchester which is a beautiful part of the world.

I'm just starting to understand people better now. The accents are different again. It had taken me a while to understand Glaswegian when I was with Celtic and I was just getting to master it when I left.

I go out with friends sometimes but I also like to go to the cinema if I can. I saw Elysium the other week. It's a really good science-fiction action film. I like action films, normally ones such as The Expendables or Fast and Furious and Matt Damon is one of my favourite actors. I won't spoil the plot for you but I would definitely recommend it to you all.

I like to go home and chill out after a game and after training and it will be nice next week when some of my family come to visit. Obviously, it's not been great in Nairobi so I'm looking forward to seeing my mum, my cousin, one of my brothers and my sister.

Relaxing: Wanyama enjoys spending time at home after training

Film time: Wanyama enjoys going to the cinema and says Elysium star Matt Damon is one of his favourite actors

I come from a big sporting family. My mother Mildred played netball when she was younger and my sister Mercy plays basketball in America while my brothers play football as did my father Noah.

It will be great to have them over as I haven't seen them for a while and it will be nice to have mum's cooking!

Celtic play Barcelona this week. It's a game with a lot of good memories for me and I hope I'll be able to watch it.

When I scored for Celtic and we beat them 2-1 last year it was one of the highlights of my career. I believe Celtic can beat them again; they just need to take their chances.

It was frustrating to watch their game against AC Milan the other week. It was such a good team performance. They were better than them all over the park. I just felt that if they had got one goal then they would have gone on to win by three or four.

Head first: Wanyama scored for Celtic last season in the win over Barcelona

Oh Bhoy! Wanyama celebrates scoring against Barcelona with Emilio Izaguirre

On top of the world: Wanyama celebrates with Tony Watt after his goal

It's what happens at this level. They were so unlucky but Celtic found last year that there is greater importance in taking your chances because the top European teams often have a player that maybe does little else but finish.

Javier Mascherano is injured and Lionel Messi got injured on Saturday so maybe Celtic can take advantage.

Last year was such a memorable night for me. To play well, to score and to beat as big a team as Barcelona was incredible.

I remember Neil Lennon talking to us saying 'Look, when you go out on to the pitch, it's just 11 versus 11 out there. You just have to work a bit harder than them.'

Injury blow: Lionel Messi walks off after picking up an injury against Almeria

Missing out: Javier Mascherano also looks set to miss the Celtic match through injury

I knew we had to be very strong in the middle of the park as that is their strongest point. It's not just with Andres Iniesta and Xavi but Serge Busquets or Cesc Fabregas.

They keep the ball so well and work to press it too and when they get it they can hurt you easily.

It wasn't easy. We needed to concentrate 100 per cent. The second you go to sleep they can kill you off. We had to be focused all the way through. Afterwards when you play them you are not just tired physically but mentally. Your head hurts. It's so important to try and stay strong.

I just hope Celtic can do it again.