Kristoffer Ajer has refused to single out Shane Duffy or any of his other team-mates for Celtic’s disastrous collapse at Aberdeen yesterday.
Duffy was caught out for goals number two and three in Celtic’s 3-3 stalemate at Pittodrie. The Ireland international gave the ball away for Ryan Hedges’ effort, before he was one of the players skinned by Scott Wright leading up to the Dons’ late penalty.
You expect a lot more from a player of Duffy’s capability and pedigree, as his arrival has failed to make our defence look more solid under pressure.
But Ajer is refusing to point the finger of blame anywhere. Despite the Norwegian having a decent enough game of his own, he showed his leadership qualities as he admitted that everyone has to take their share of the blame for yesterday.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Ajer said: “We attack as a team and we defend as a team. It’s easy for people to single out players but this is a team and it works both ways.
“We scored three goals collectively and we also conceded three at the other end, including two penalties. It’s all a collective. We communicate great with each other. We all know our jobs and where to be on the pitch so we don’t always have to talk to each other.
“No, I don’t feel that (a lack of confidence). I feel really confident. This is a squad full of winners who are not happy when we don’t get three points. Obviously we want to get back to winning games and and hopefully we can do that soon.”
Things not getting any easier
When you take a look at Celtic’s fixture list, there certainly aren’t any games you can pinpoint as easy.
First off, we’re away to Lille in Thursday’s Europe League clash before we face Aberdeen at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Celtic then host Sparta Prague in their third Europa League group stage contest before returning to league action for tricky away encounters at Motherwell and Hibernian respectively.
Normally, there’s a sense of “bring it on” when you read out a fixture list like that. However, such is the lack of confidence amongst the support at the moment, it’s difficult to get too giddy about some of the challenges ahead.
Celtic could do with a pick-me-up, and Lille on Thursday night doesn’t look like the ideal game to provide it. As much as we all would love to get a result and really kick-start our Euro campaign this season, the Ligue 1 side look far too talented to allow Celtic away with the mistakes we’ve been making this season.
In truth, a win at a tough away ground such as Lille or even Motherwell/Hibernian domestically can really change the course of our season. If we come away from the next few weeks with a cup final booked, six points from two tricky venues, and a few points on our European board, we can be extremely satisfied.
But Celtic have to put the work in to achieve that. Right now no game is a gimme. 10-in-a-row was never going to be plain sailing, but it’s time to get the finger out and start showing what this Hoops side is all about.
In other news, a Celtic-linked centre-back is reportedly set to reject a new contract with his current club, but there’s a downside.
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