SHUT THAT DOR
Toljan slots in at right-back with ease to boost Celts’ defensive record because they play similar style to Borussia
JEREMY TOLJAN was used to the Yellow Wall in Dortmund but he’s hoping to slot into the green and white one being constructed at Parkhead.
The on-loan Borussia defender played in front of the famous huge stand at the Westfalenstadion but was blown away by his first taste of Celtic Park in Wednesday’s 2-0 win against Hibs.
Toljan earned rave reviews from Hoops fans for his attacking raids up the right but it was adding to Celtic’s impressive defensive record that pleased the German ace the most.
Brendan Rodgers’s side have yet to concede a goal in six games since coming back from the winter break, clattering 16 in at the other end on the way to half a dozen wins on the spin.
The Celtic boss has been forced to chop and change his backline along the way but, no matter who comes in, the rearguard has remained rock solid on home soil.
In fact, you need to go back to October and Florian Kamberi’s strike in the 4-2 victory against Hibs to find the last goal scored from open play in the champions’ backyard.
Toljan reckons it’s been easy for him to adapt quickly to life at Celtic as there are parallels with Dortmund.
It’s all about attack again – but the defensive wall has to be solid.
The 24-year-old said: “It’s quite similar. In Dortmund we had the ball most of the time and tried to attack and score many goals and Celtic is the same so it’s no big deal for me.
“If you do good in offence and score a lot it’s hard for the opponent then to score against you. We have been doing a good job in defence and we defend counter-attacks very well.
“I hope we keep doing this and avoid losing many goals.”
Toljan had 45 minutes in Perth on Sunday but admitted his first start and home debut was everything he hoped it would be.
The borrowed Borussia man had been told what to expect from Parkhead and it didn’t disappoint.
Neither did Toljan. He looked a class act slotting in on the right and he linked superbly with Timo Weah in front of him, especially when the pair teamed up to carve out the opener for Ryan Christie.
Toljan said: “It’s an amazing stadium with incredible fans and a great team. I enjoyed it very much.
“It was a great night for me. With a bit of luck we could have scored more goals but a 2-0 victory was good for us.
“It was exciting. I was looking forward to it since I came here
and it was good. I’ve heard a lot about the atmosphere being crazy and I enjoyed it a lot.
“It’s always important to win and as a defender have a clean sheet and I hope we can keep that up in the next week.
“I have settled in very quickly. The style is what I expected from clips I saw of previous matches and it suits me well.”
Toljan stepped in for Mikael Lustig after the Swede suffered a knock at St Johnstone at the weekend.
The regular right-back managed to make the bench on Wednesday but the German is looking to keep him there for the foreseeable.
Toljan said: “Of course – I have the qualities to play and that’s always my goal to play. I was training all the time wat Dortmund, I wasn’t injured, so I’m fit enough to play games. I felt good against Hibs.”
Toljan won’t have time to catch his breath as history awaits at Celtic. No Hoops side has won three Scottish Cups in a row – or three trebles on the spin – and the full-back would love to write his place in the record books during his spell in Scotland. The holders host St Johnstone on Sunday and Toljan is out to make the quarterfinals before Valencia arrive for Thursday’s Europa League last-32 first-leg clash. He said: “Cup and Europa league are the best. Hopefully we win it.” Rodgers reckons fans are in for a treat with Toljan. He said: “He’s a really good player. He’s slick, quick, serves the ball well and had a good assist. He was excellent and will only get better.”