TWENTY year old Kristoffer Ajer has the weight of Celtic’s defensive woes on his young shoulders but he is more than happy to stand up and face the challenge of sorting out what’s being going wrong.
“Everyone needs to take responsibility. I’ve played almost all the games this season and been part of conceding the goals,” he noted.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are, you’re in with the rest of the team and you have to take the blame too.
“When you’re playing you have a responsibility, especially here at Celtic. There is huge pressure in every game.
“We’ve conceded goals that should have been prevented. That’s something we need to look at and work on.
“We are working on that every day in training and we want to better that in the next games. We’ve just not been good enough at the decisive moments in our box. It’s something we need to improve.”
Ajer has played alongside Jack Hendry and Jozo Simunovic and these two have played together – in Athens and at Tynecastle, in games Celtic lost.
Dedryck Boyata is in the past now and plays no part in any thought process and partnering Celtic central defenders together. Celtic should hit the money grabber where it hurts and fine him his last two weeks wages for his betrayal of the jersey.
Ajer though isn’t relying on the chopping and changing or even the Belgian strike action as a valid excuse for the defensive woes this season.
“I’m used to playing with all the centre-halves. We train together and there is a mixture in the team. I’m familiar with all the players. It’s just about getting into a rhythm and performing at a good level.
“I expect it of myself to show leadership. There are so many other leaders in the team that I can learn from.
“At Celtic you always have to perform and express yourself. That’s a natural part of playing for the club. You have to be vocal and demanding of yourself. I feel I’m developing that and I do feel I’ve grown into that.
“I am learning from the experienced guys and they are vocal with me and accept I’ll be vocal with them too. That’s how it always needs to be in a professional environment. It’s natural.”
“We are such a strong squad and we know we can make mistakes and concede goals. We will never start blaming each other. Everyone has his job to do.
“It’s not only one guy or two guys at fault. It’s shared. It’s important to look at it, work on it and hopefully not do it next time.”
The Norwegian is well aware of the level of criticism out there among the support but he tries his best to stay away from looking at what’s been written, especially online.
“To be honest, I don’t read a lot on social media. It’s important to stay away from that.
“There are always going to be ups and downs throughout a season. We’ve had two fantastic seasons and are hoping for the same this year. We have to stay focused and hopefully results will come.
“If we qualify on Thursday hopefully we can go far in the tournament. It’s something I’m really looking forward to.”
Ajer revealed that he has been busy bulking up in the gym to help him meet the challenges ahead playing in Celtic’s defence.
“There are a lot of tough games but that is what develops you as a player. I have always been a physical player but I added a lot of weight too. I needed it to play at centre-half. I was 83kg when I came and now I am 93.5.
“I found out really quickly when I got moved to centre-half that I needed it. I’ve been working with John Currie, our physical guy.
“You need to get used to strikers going up against you. There’s a fantastic physical side to the game in Scotland and that’s something young players need to learn about.
“I had to start eating more but also training in the gym. It has been a good programme. I have been training a lot on my explosiveness, all the parts that are important in football. It’s taken two years but it’s been important to take that time.
“You could put the weight on a lot quicker but then you might miss out on something else.”
