VILJAMI SINISALO has played his part in Celtic’s four-game unbeaten run in their challenging sequence of away challenges.
The Finnish keeper took over from Kasper Schmeichel for the Europa League second leg against VfB Stuttgart in Germany after the Hoops’ 4-1 collapse at Parkhead the previous week.
Sinisalo kept a clean sheet as a goal from Luke McCowan in 27 seconds gave the visitors a hard-fought victory over the Bundesliga side.
The 24-year-old netminder has kept the gloves ever since – a 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie and two trips to Ibrox, the 2-2 Premiership stalemate and the Scottish Cup quarter-final penalty-kick shoot-out success after the goalless extra-time draw.
FOLLOW THE LEADER…Viljami Sinisalo exits the Ibrox tunnel behind captain Liam Scales with Julian Araujo third in line as Celtic get ready for their Scottish Cup quarter-final encounter. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
Schmeichel returned to training last week after being sidelined, but Martin O’Neill kept faith with the former Aston Villa shotstopper.
Understandably, Sinisalo is thriving on the first-team experiences and said: “I think it was the day before the game in Stuttgart I was told that I’m in and I spoke to the manager about what he wants from me and what he wants from his goalkeeper, in general.
“Obviously, I’m trying to be that by showing my own personality on the pitch and doing the best I can.
“As a group in the four games we’ve just had, it shows the character within the changing room.
“A lot of people might write us off, but we’ve shown that Celtic are not going to go anywhere, we’re going to fight until the very last game.
“And that’s what we’ve done, we’ve come away from those four really difficult away days, all within their own right difficult in different ways, and taken some positive results out of them, so I’m happy.”
CELTIC CUDDLE…Liam Scales and Viljami Sinisalo after the penalty-kick triumph at Ibrox.
Admitting his discussions with O’Neill, Sinisalo, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “It’s a continuous conversation that you always have.
“I’m trying to be as good as I can for him to help the team win and I’m obviously trying to learn every time I play.
“I’m probably my own biggest critic in terms of I’m a perfectionist – I want to be perfect and I want to do things better and better.
“It’s just about listening to the staff, the manager and Woodsy and everyone else, and taking on board what I can do better in whatever way it is to help the team be successful at the end of the day.”
Sinisalo is likely to be in a position to prove his worth yet again when Celtic return to Parkhead for Saturday’s encounter with Motherwell.
