Celtic striker Albian Ajeti feels he’s now at full fitness and ready for a sustained run in Neil Lennon’s starting eleven.
Speaking in a press conference today, Ajeti gave his views on a number of subjects including his expectations of Scottish football, his fitness and his slow start to life at Celtic.
The forward has had a stop-start season since arriving from West Ham United last summer.
His progress hasn’t been helped by the lack of football he got in London. He was on the sidelines for most of the 2019/20 season after shining for Basel in his homeland, Switzerland.
Now though, the 11-cap international is up for the battle.
When asked about his impressions of Scottish football, he told reporters today [Celtic YouTube]: “I expected everything as it is right now, like this. I was not surprised by anything.
“I know it’s a hard league, a tough league and lots of fight. I’d say it’s like English football, like proper English mentality, which is good, I like that in football.
“It’s tough, it’s hard and it’s very intense.”
Ajeti was then quizzed about the expectations of playing for a club like Celtic and whether this has been a factor in his slow progress in Scotland to date.
The striker replied: “No, what took me time was a little bit of fitness and a bit of injuries. This is why I lost some time. But I’m back, I’m fully fit now, I’m feeling good and we’re winning. Everything is going well at the moment.
“I like pressure as a player. I like to feel that.”
Now at full fitness, Albian Ajeti will get Celtic chances
The stars are yet to align for Ajeti in the team. Performances, to my eye, are slowly getting better but he needs to hit the net with regularity to really catch the eye.
It may seem absurd to some that he is only reaching full fitness in February. No doubt there’s a story to tell on both sides with regards to that.
The Swiss striker is clearly hungry to get more minutes under his belt though. The future is what we have to focus on.
He didn’t look best pleased to be substituted off during last night’s win over St Mirren. However, we should welcome that as supporters. We need that hunger and desire to succeed moving forward.
I’d rather a player was upset with his lack of minutes than being upset at playing for Celtic.
In other news, Roma are eyeing Odsonne Edouard as an Edin Dzeko replacement.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
