MOTHERWELL No.2 Keith Lasley is confident Celtic misfit Nadir Ciftci will return to his old form at Fir Park.
The Turkish striker agreed a loan switch to Well this month after failing to score in eight appearances for League One Plymouth Argyle.
Lasley, boss Stephen Robinson and the rest of the coaching staff are now looking forward to working with Ciftci and hoping he can turn in the sort of performances that persuaded the Hoops to pay £1.3million to Dundee United for him in the summer of 2015.
The assistant gaffer said: “With Nadir, everybody knows the level that he was at and that obviously got him his move to Celtic.
“We’re really determined to get him back towards that sort of level and if we can do that, then we know what sort of player we’ve got on our hands.
“I know how good he is from playing against him. I chased him and tried kick him without success on more than a few occasions!
“We know that we need to get him back on it mentally and physically and we feel confident we’ve got a player on our hands.
“He’s had a wee bit of an up and down time, but we believe this is an environment that can bring the best out in any player, not just Nadir.
“The environment we try to create is that you have to do it, or you won’t be selected.
“In training every day, we demand standards in every single drill, so right from the start those ground rules have been set for everyone.
“Nadir will be part of that process and he will have those demands put upon him like anyone else.
“If Nadir buys into that, which I’m sure he will, then we believe he will be a really big asset for us.”
NEW CQN PODCAST OUT NOW FEATURING TOMMY SHERIDAN
A Celtic State of Mind presents its 30th instalment of insightful discussion around the culture of Celtic Football Club, the city of Glasgow, and fans of the reigning treble-winning Scottish champions.
Kevin Graham is joined by Scotty Alcroft to interview Scottish pro-independence politician, Tommy Sheridan, at The Penalty Spot in Glasgow.
The interview took place as part of A Celtic State of Mind’s first live event – Five-a-sides at The Penalty Spot – and, as such, there is some background noise (including mobile interference – apologies) from the audience.
The other voice you may hear throughout this episode is that of former Celtic striker, Frank McGarvey, who is a friend of Tommy’s, and who was also interviewed separately that day for a future show.
You are sure to enjoy Tommy’s eclectic input, as he discusses everything from Catalan independence to Coolio, with a constant undercurrent of that thing called Celtic.
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