JOZO SIMUNOVIC last night opened up about the most difficult year of his career and admitted he would have been devastated to miss out on Celtic’s League Cup victory.
The Croat revealed his problems with injury and the last-minute collapse of a move to Torino, for reasons which have still not been fully explained, had been difficult to cope coming as they did less than a year since move to Glasgow from Dinamo Zagreb.
Still only 22, the defender has forced his way back into the Celtic team, forming a sold partnership with Erik Sviatchenko, which has played a big part in the team going over twelve and a half hours without conceding a goal.
And for a player who believed four months ago that his Celtic career was over after just 18 games, the Hampden win over Aberdeen felt all the sweeter given everything he has been through.
"This year has been up and down for me. It has been turbulent,” admitted Simunovic. “But I just accept that. It was part of my football career.
"The most important thing now is that I am playing games and winning trophies with Celtic. I want to keep improving and getting better every day.
“To win this trophy means a lot to me after everything that has happened over the last year. But look, I'm a professional footballer and injuries happen. That's normal. I accepted that and I have worked hard to improve.
"The manager is getting a lot out of me but I also believe I can get better every day. It's good that he has said some positive things about me. That means a lot. I can't think about that though, I just need to keep working hard every day.”
Simunovic could easily be playing in Italy and had that happened it would have been Sunday a difficult watch.
"I feel at home now, with the fans and everybody at the club,” he said. “They have supported me.
"There is a lot of positive energy between the fans and the players and that's important. If I had gone to Torino and watched Celtic win this cup, I would have been sad to miss it. But Torino is over for me now. I just look to the future with Celtic.
"It was an amazing feeling to win a trophy. It's been a couple of years since we had won the League Cup but it's back home. I won trophies with Dinamo Zagreb too but it feels special to do it with Celtic too.”
A criticism of Rodgers at Liverpool was that team conceded too many goals, which cost them the title far more than Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea. However, this Celtic back five have come together better than surely even the Irishman would have expected.
“We haven't lost a goal for a long time but that shows we are a team,” said Simunovic. “The clean sheet is part of the bigger picture, which is built on hard work. That is what we have been doing and we need to keep doing that.
“It's a good partnership that is developing between myself and Erik, and the clean sheets are always pleasing. We have shown our qualities and it's good to play next to him.”
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