It’s full team ahead for selfless Jota
Jota insists there’s only one ‘I’ in Celtic and it’s all about the collective and not the individual.
The Por tuguese winger insists creating goals for his team-mates gives him as much pleasure as scoring.
Jota’s impact since arriving on loan from Benfica this summer has quickly endeared him to the support and he scored again yesterday in the win at Motherwell.
But he’s also in the mood to keep on giving for his team-mates.
He said: “I have to be a team player, so if the best opportunity is for me to take a chance and score, I will do that. If the best thing is to assist then I will deliver the assist for a team-mate.
“The main thing is always to deliver what is in the interest of the team.
“You have to focus on the success of the club so I will be happy if the team does well even if I don’t score.
“We train as a group so there’s connections and bonds between us.
“We’ve taken a chance to work on a lot of things so we are more ready for the next few games.”
The 22- year- old is gearing up for Tuesday afternoon’s crucial Europa League clash with Ferencvaros.
He’d be happy to play at the crack of dawn if it meant getting the right result in the first of a double-header with the Hungarians.
He said:“These games against Ferencvaros are very important.
“We want to deliver a victory at home in front of our fans, our family.
“We’re ready to play in the morning, afternoon or the evening. Just put us on the pitch and we’ll do our thing. It doesn’t matter about the time.
“We know the fans want us to deliver results but that’s good pressure to have. We must go into games with a winning mentality.”
Jot a’s vital late goal at Aberdeen earlier this month earned Celtic a first away Premiership win since February.
He admits he relished every moment of his strike at Pittodrie.
He said: “It was crazy when I scored. The cheers from fans was unbelievable.
“I hope that we can live those moments together many more times.
“I still have a lot to bring to my game.
“I’m working hard every day, being humble and staying close to my team-mates and staff.
“I’m aiming to be the best version of myself that I can be.”
We tra a in as group so there
’s a bond