FOREST FIRED BY AITCHISON
Loan kid Jack vows to win his place at Parkhead
JACK AITCHISON says he’ll take tips from Celtic’s three key strikers to win his place at Parkhead.
The 19-year-old made a dream debut for Forest Green Rovers at the weekend after stepping off the bench to hit the winner for his new club in their 1-0 success over Cambridge United.
Aitchison’s been unable to make the permanent breakthrough at Celtic despite scoring for the club aged 16 years and 71 days against Motherwell in 2016 and has moved on loan to the Gloucestershire side.
The teenager was unable to get ahead of Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Issouf Bayo at Lennoxtown but he is determined to take the daily lessons learned from the trio to improve. Aitchison reckons the education he received from just watching and working alongside them will aid his development as he looks to shine in England’s League Two and return a better player.
He said: “Celtic have good strikers in Edouard, Griff and Bayo. They are all fantastic players and just watching them in training helps me to learn. Hopefully, I can bring that here and try to keep moving up and try to get my place in the first team soon. “It’s been good here. The boys have been so welcoming. I only heard about the move late on the Saturday and Sunday morning. It all happened so fast. “As soon as I heard I got clips of games sent over and when I saw them I wanted to come here. I’m so glad I did. Not many teams in this league play the way we do and that is what excited me.
“I came down on the Monday and trained as they were trying to get the papers done. I was supposed to play last Tuesday but clearance didn’t come through so maybe it was meant to be I played here.”
Aitchison was an instant hit on his debut. Rovers boss Mark Cooper was glowing in his praise and said: “We thank our keeper for a great penalty save and Jack for being absolutely out of this world when he came on.
“He could’ve scored two and looked really sharp. We thought about getting the timing right for putting him
on and he won us the game.” Aitchison, after impressing for the side claiming to be the only vegan club in the world, said: “It feels amazing to help the boys get up the table.
“I managed to find a bit of space in a pocket in the box and I cut in and saw a gap at the near post. Luckily I managed to squeeze it in.
“They all count whether it is the first touch or whatever. I just want to come on and try to do my job.”
The youngster also took time to dedicate his first Forest Green goal to his dad who passed away last year. He added: “My family support me well and that’s for him.”