FINDING MY ZEN
Celtic youngster Ajer is studying video nasties in bid to find enlightenment ahead of big Europa test
KRISTOFFER AJER reckons sifting through video nasties can prevent any x-rated moments against Zenit St Petersburg.
The Norwegian kid studies his every move on film to try to iron out errors and work on weaknesses.
Ajer sped straight out of Celtic Park on Saturday to bang on the DVD of the 3-2 win over Partick to filter through the bad bits and cut them out.
At the age of 19, the youngster believes self analysis is critical.
Ajer wants to cement his place in the backline and knows identifying the areas of his game which need work is crucial to his development.
He said: “I do that for every game. That’s how I work. I look at the details, I look at the goals.
“I look at when I’m with the ball to find easier solutions next time and that doesn’t change from game to game. I sat down on Saturday evening but when you play games, that’s a big part of the game.
“You must watch it and learn from your mistakes and what you did well too. I go back and forth to learn things then I have a chat with the staff on the Monday when we meet again. It’s good and it helps me a lot.”
Ajer’s attention to detail is admirable and, in some sense, necessary ahead of Thursday’s crunch clash with the Russians.
Brendan Rodgers’ team warmed up for the showdown against Zenit by making their way their way into the last eight of the Scottish Cup at the expense of battling Partick.
However, lapses in defence made the afternoon more fraught than it needed to be.
Jozo Simunovic was the individual involved and the one who didn’t need TV evidence to find where his faults lay.
The Bosnian boobed for Kris Doolan to net with a dreadful back pass and then a slack pass and weak response saw Connor Sammon score.
Shipping two goals when twice a couple in front and in control of the contest was a big cause for concern and Ajer admitted that there is work needing to be done to solidify the line.
He said: “It was a long game. It was a hectic game too. Thistle pressed us well throughout the whole game.
“Even when we went up 2-0 they did really well to come back and never gave us a second on the ball. They played really well.
“We started really well, we were on the front foot and we scored two brilliant goals from Jamesy Forrest.
“Then they got the first goal and it changed the game. We don’t do anything different. We respect all the teams and play the same way.
“We know our jobs. Teams set up really well against us and they go 100 per cent. It’s a big game for them to play against Celtic and we know that so we’re up for each task.”
Ajer recovered from an achilles injury to play against Thistle but says all is fine for Zenit as he added: “I’ve taken some painkillers, so I feel OK now. It was a bruised bone in the heel so it’s fine.
“Zenit are a good team and we’re really looking forward to that challenge on Thursday.
“We respect them a lot, we’ve seen a lot of them and we’ll see a lot more of them in the coming days so we’ll be ready for that game.”