JOZO SIMUNOVIC, the Celtic defender, has shot down doubts in the wake of his knee injury hell by insisting he is fit for a high purpose at Parkhead.

The up-and-coming Croatian centre-half’s time at Parkhead has been blighted with issues, including missing the entire second half of last season on the back of a knee problem in an eight-month lay off.

It has left many doubting the 22-year-old’s fitness and ability to play week in, week out for the Scottish champions as they look to fight a war on four fronts next campaign as they aim to return to the Champions League group stage

However, speaking in Dubai, the man himself declared that he has the belief in himself and is sure that he has finally overcome his problems and said: “Everything is okay.

“I'm still working just on my fitness. I don't have any problem if someone wants to ask me about my knee because it's fine now.

“It doesn't matter what people ask. I know what I feel. And it feels fine. I want to believe in myself.

“It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks; these are my knees, no one else's.

“So it's difficult to convince people. But I know how I feel.

“I know people say my name and everyone says the same thing; 'he had an operation, maybe the knee is not good.'

“But I know it's good now.”

The defender told last February that he had been playing through the pain barrier with a crack in his knee, but he has revealed that the support of the Celtic fans helped carry him through.

“You know, at my last club I didn't have so much support,” he said. “But here it's another story.

“All the atmosphere and the fans. It got me through. We also had a bit of a situation with defenders missing.

“I played on and it wasn't good.

“But the fans got me through games because it's not the same when you are only training.

“The adrenaline makes a big difference.”

Simunovic’s dreaded knee problems following surgery proved to be a force for good during the summer transfer window if you are of a Celtic persuasion.

The former Dinamo Zagreb stopper was posed to make a transfer deadline day switch to Torino only for the move to collapse due to a failed medical.

It was a deal that was painfully close to going through for a player who had travelled to Italy to complete terms in the pursuit of more first-team football.

Asked how close the move was to going through, he said: “What do you think?

“I was there, I did everything and then at the last moment they said they wanted to change something...At the very last moment.

“But the good thing is that I stayed here at Celtic.

“I proved myself, I proved to everybody that's the best thing for me in my career now.

“I always believe things happen for a reason. It was fate.”

Like all of his team-mates Simunovic appears reinvigorated for the second half of the campaign courtesy of some much-needed downtime in the Dubai sunshine.

“Thank God everything has been good in this part of the season,” he said.

“I am looking forward now. I am really happy, I am really enjoying it. It has not been easy sometimes, but that is football life.

“It's all behind me now.

“I use my time now getting better. Making preparations to get better. The bad times are all behind me now - and I look forward.

“I had a bad start at the club.

“But now I'm okay and I'm playing nearly every game.

“That's the most important thing. I don't want to think too much about what happened before."