Kieran Tierney has opened up on what has been a ‘tough season’ for him after his return to Celtic.
The Scotland star spent a lot of his time in his last two seasons at Arsenal on the bench or recovering from injury before Tierney made his big Celtic move.
And here, the Celtic defender gets honest about his return to the club he loves as Tierney reveals all about his struggles with his fitness.
Tierney told the Daily Record, “It’s been a tough season for me, to be honest. I’ve just had to keep doing what I’m doing, do my recovery and the work in the gym.
Only one of Kieran Tierney and Marcelo Saracchi can start against Kilmarnock
Who are you picking?
“Keep believing I will get better, get sharper and perform better. It’s been about believing in myself and keeping going.
“It’s a lot of pressure but playing with Celtic that’s something you need to deal with, I knew that coming back. So it wasn’t a surprise. I lived that playing for Celtic my whole life before I left, I love being here and love playing for Celtic, so when people come up to you it’s great.”
Tierney admits he knew Celtic start would ‘be a slow burner’
Whilst Celtic fans looked forward to seeing the Kieran Tierney of old returning to the club, the full-back admits he knew it would take a bit of time to get back to his best in Glasgow.
“I’m sure people know I want the best for Celtic and nobody more than me wanted me to be fitter sooner,” added Tierney, “But I have done my best, worked hard and tried to do my best for the team.
“If someone hasn’t played consistently for three years it’s hard to expect that in the first four weeks they’re going to be flying.
“I had two or three operations in the last couple of years, never played consistently and came back, asked to play a lot of games at the start, so it’s going to take time.
“Did I know it would be a slow burner? Yes. People will probably see the growth that has happened in me over the last couple of months.
“I would say for the past couple of months I’ve been performing at a consistent level. I need to keep that up, keep defending well, helping the boys in attack and playing a lot of minutes.”
With Kilmarnock up next for Celtic, fans will be hoping that Tierney can help the Bhoys pick up another vital three Scottish Premiership points.
As Hearts travel to Ibrox to face Rangers, Celtic know that the gap can be closed further if a win at Rugby Park is negotiated this weekend.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
