AJETI ON EURO STAND-BY

NEW Bhoy Albian Ajeti is in line for a quickfire debut tomorrow night – but the £5million Swiss striker will NOTstart in the Champions League first round knock-out tie against KR Reykjavik.

The frontman, bought from West Ham last week, has impressed Neil Lennon so much he has been brought straight into his squad for the crucial one-off confrontation at Parkhead.

Ajeti has done enough after a few days of training to show he can make an immediate contribution, but will have to be content with a place on the substitutes’ bench at kick-off.

The Hoops gaffer is eager to see how the Switzerland international links up with Odsonne Edouard in a competitive encounter.

Lennon, speaking to the club website, said: “He’ll be in the squad, but he’s not ready to start. He has a little bit more work to do. He’s only been here a couple of days and has done some training with the boys and a little bit extra fitness work.

“He trained well this morning and I think he’ll be a very good signing for us going forward. He’s a natural goalscorer and he’s a good centre-forward.”
Celtic’s two cancelled league matches against St Mirren and Aberdeen have given the manager nine days to prepare his side for the visit of the Icelandic champions.

Lennon added: “Our preparation has been good even though we missed out on a couple of games, which would have helped. It’s been disruptive, but you’ve got to make the best out of it. We’ve had a good week of training, so we’re looking forward to a good amount of games now to get our teeth into.

“We’ve had a long time back now training. We’ve only had two competitive games, so I think this game is really important for a number of reasons.

“Reykjavik haven’t played many games recently, either. The game is all about us, we’re at home and it’s one leg. We’ve given plenty of respect to Reykjavik, but I’m expecting a strong performance from ourselves.

“I’d much prefer the two legs, but we know what we have to do and we know what lies ahead of us if we negotiate Reykjavik.”