How John McGinn and ex-Celtic star played major role in goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo’s career

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It’s Viljami Sinisalo’s time to shine for Celtic this weekend.

The Finn has played once for Celtic this season with Kasper Schmeichel being ruled out when the Hoops faced off against Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup.

It was a 5-0 win for the Scottish Premiership leaders that day with Sinisalo barely being tested by the Championship outfit.

Schmeichel is injured for Celtic again ahead of this weekend’s clash with Hearts at Parkhead and his deputy will be asked to step up again for Brendan Rodgers‘ side.

• READ MORE: Alan Hutton shares how Aston Villa really felt about Viljami Sinisalo joining Celtic

Mark Kerr says McGinn vouched for Sinisalo at Ayr United

Former Ayr United boss Mark Kerr has worked with Sinisalo previously while he was on loan at Somerset Park and the coach believes he can go far in the game.

And speaking to the Daily Record, Kerr revealed how it was John McGinn and former Hoops man Willo Flood who brought Sinisalo to his attention even as far back as 2020 as an 18-year-old kid.

“The deal came about through Willo Flood. He knew one of the scouts down there and then when his name came up I texted John McGinn,” Kerr said.

“John said he was training with the Villa first team every day and he was a cracking boy with a lot of ability. He said he would do a decent job. Viljami was still only 18 year-old at the time so we brought him up to train and to have a look, only because he was so young.

“He really made an impression. He was a big lad but agile and you could tell he would be different class.

“To be fair, it was a difficult period during the covid season. It was so bad for everyone. We’d lost lots of players and the ones coming in were stuck in the house.

“It was tough for him but he was a great lad, who chucked himself right into it. He did really well for us.”

Sinisalo can take advantage of Kasper Schmeichel’s Celtic injury

Sinisalo, now 23, joined Celtic for £1million with a view to learning from Schmeichel to become the long-term solution once the Danish hero retires.

So now is the right time to throw him in the deep end to see if he can swim.

The stopper has first-team experience with Exeter City when he was loaned out by Aston Villa again and he made 50 appearances in League One and in the cup competitions that year.

Now will be the opportunity for the young man to show Rodgers and Stevie Woods what he’s capable of.