Celtic’s win over Hamilton went as perfectly as possible. The Hoops racked up five goals and three points as they stormed to the top of the SPFL table on the opening weekend. It was exactly the kind of performance that the Celtic support would have been hoping for and Kris Ajer feels there is still more to come from the team.
Speaking to the Celtic View, Ajer said the 9 in a row champions were determined to start the season in style and praised the squad for working hard during pre-season to ensure they started the new campaign in the best possible way.
“Everyone has been really excited to get going again after such a long break,” Ajer told the club magazine. “To finally be back playing is a good feeling and the whole squad is excited to show what we can do.
“We’ve been eager to put on a performance after all the hard work during pre-season. When you look around the full squad, everyone looks really sharp in training and we’re excited to show that in the games.
“We know we have to be at our best from the first game of the season. The fans expect us to win every game and we are hungry to win every game. That is never easy so we have to work hard in training to make sure we can live up to the expectations when we go out onto the pitch. We all love that kind of pressure and we’ve missed it, but that time away from football has only made us hungrier for more success.”
Celtic have been in superb form, unbeaten since December 2019 in domestic football, yet Ajer feels that this team has not yet peaked.
“I did a lot of strength work during the summer so I feel I’ve developed that side of my game,” said the Norwegian international. “I was lucky enough to be back home in Norway without a complete lockdown so I was able to do a lot of training with the ball and some work with my friends while adhering to the health advice. It was a good period of hard training and hopefully, it pays off now that we’re back playing football again.
“On an individual level I feel I’ve been improving but the team as a whole has improved too. The gaffer has made it clear how he wants us to play and we’re well drilled in the different tactics that he wants us to use. The more we work together the stronger we are as a team. This pre-season and the games have helped us improve and it’s set us up well for the season.”