FIGHTING FIT

Albian Ajeti opted to remain at Lennoxtown and work on his fitness rather than head off on international duty, and he’s hoping Celtic can reap the rewards

- TONY CONNELLY

ALBIAN Ajeti opted to stay in Glasgow and prepare for Celtic’s next game while the majority of his team-mates were away on international duty. The Hoops striker has made good use of the time and cannot wait for the chance to build on the performance that earned Celtic a convincing win in their last domestic fixture.

Passing up the chance to play against Belgium, Spain and Ukraine was not a decision Ajeti took likely. The 23-year-old has 11 caps to his name for Switzerland and wanted to help his country finish their Nations League group on a high and avoid relegation from the top tier of the competition.

However, having only recently returned from injury, Ajeti felt he had to prioritise his fitness and has been capitalising on the time with intense training sessions at Lennoxtown.

“For me, this period is very important because it allows me to build my fitness back up,” said Ajeti in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “It was the best decision for me to stay here rather than go away with the national team. I lost a couple of weeks when I was injured and I thought this was the right moment to try and get my fitness back to the level it was before the injury.

“Switzerland played a friendly against Belgium and then played Spain and Ukraine in the Nations League. We have already qualified for the Euros but we had a really tough Nations League group with Germany, Spain and Ukraine. There wasn’t a lot we could expect from those games but we did quite well.