SEBASTIAN TOUNEKTI hopes to stage an action replay of his spectacular strike against Auchinleck Talbot when he lines up against Bologna in the Europa League this evening.
The Tunisian winger finally put Sunday’s Scottish Cup encounter to bed with a stunning second goal in the 85th minute to remove any possibility of a banana skin moment for the Hoops.
As the ball settled in the net of gallant opponents, Tounekti took off towards the touchline to celebrate with backroom Bhoy Mark Fotheringham.
It was only the third goal for the wide man who joined the champions in the summer in a £5.2million switch from Swedish outfit Hammarby IF.
And he was determined to share the moment with the coach known as Fozzy to everyone at the club.
HEARTFELT…Sebastian Tounekti celebrates his stunning strike against Auchinleck Talbot to settle a tricky Scottish Cup-tie.
Tounekti explained: “As a winger, I want to produce goals and to make assists. And maybe I have lacked a little bit of that. So, for me, to score at the weekend was an amazing feeling. I just want to build on that.
“I try to work really hard on the pitch with the coaches. We have so many great players in our team who I train with a lot. And I try to do some extra, try to improve every day, try to watch videos.
“And also I think maybe one of my main issues is that I haven’t scored the easier goals, like to be on the back post to score those goals. So, that’s also what we’ve been watching videos about. Hopefully, I can also score more of those.
“Mark Fotheringham is definitely one of the people who have really helped me. I’ve been working extremely hard with him on the training field to improve my finishing and also my crossing.
“I feel like I’m a player who can produce some assists and goals.”
Tounekti was one of the lucky ones who missed much of the chaos brought to the club by Wilfried Nancy during his disastrous 33-day reign that saw the Hoops lose six of the Frenchman’s eight games in charge.
A WORD OF ADVICE…Martin O’Neill makes a point to Sebastian Tounketi.
The 23-year-old forward was involved with his country the Africa Cup of Nations and is now delighted to be back with Martin O’Neill in control for his second interim period of a turbulent campaign.
Looking at his first few months at Parkhead, Tounekti, speaking to the media, continued: “There have been some ups and downs and now I feel like we are on the right path.
“I feel as thought the group are together and we just want to win games.
“As everyone knows, when you play for Celtic, you have to win every game and everyone understands that. So, of course, it’s been difficult when we have lost.
“But I feel like as a group we are really strong and we just have to stay together. It’s just about us keeping going now because we have so many important games upcoming.”
Tounekti has returned from the international tournament with a bounce in his step and added: “It was my first competition at this level.
“So, the experience was really amazing.
“Of course, we wanted to go further, but I have come back with a lot of energy and I am just trying to help Celtic win games.”
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