IT is hard to see just how Scott Sinclair can improve on a stellar maiden season in Scottish football but he is willing to give it a shot. That the Englishman was a key contributor in Celtic achieving an unprecedented unbeaten treble was reflected on the raft of personal awards that came his way come its conclusion. Brendan Rodgers’ side had many stand-out performers last year but Sinclair was perhaps the best of the lot.
On a personal level, there remains one significant box still to be ticked. On his CV Sinclair has appearances for England at every level from under-17 up to under-21, while he was also part of a British side that featured in the 2012 Olympics. But a full England cap has continued to elude him.
Moving to Scotland has, in the past, not tended to be conducive to individuals fulfilling that goal but Sinclair believes playing with Celtic can enhance rather than diminish his prospects. At 28 years old he is still young enough to earn a first cap but knows it is a matter that is mostly out of his hands.
Read more: Tom Boyd insists Celtic are entitled to take their ticket allocation in Belfast
“There’s always going to be speculation about England,” he said. “I still want to play for my country, I’m still ambitious. But things like that are out of my control. All I can control is what I do on the field every Saturday. So I’ll just concentrate on trying to do well for Celtic and see what happens.
“It’s difficult to get in the squad but people keep mentioning me. All I can do is try to continue what I showed last season. “
That the Bath-born forward feels passionately about his country was made clear earlier this month. Sinclair sat in a bar in Majorca and watched six of his Celtic team-mates line up for Scotland against England at Hampden and had little doubts over who he wanted to win, even if he took a sense of satisfaction at seeing Leigh Griffiths score two exquisite free kicks.
“It was a weird one to watch,” he admitted. “You want your mates to do well but I’m English so… How did I feel when Griff got his second? I can’t really answer that! He’ll be buzzing after that and it would have been great to have seen him the day after that. I thought he would score them both. He’s got an amazing free kick delivery.”
Read more: Tom Boyd insists Celtic are entitled to take their ticket allocation in Belfast
That trip to Majorca was part of Sinclair’s holiday, a much shorter break than he had been used to in previous summers. But for the first time in years he is happy not to be fretting over his future.
“This is the first time I’ve only had three weeks, I normally get longer,” he added. “But we also get the winter break here so it’s alright. That helps break things up during the season.
“I’m so relaxed now. I’ve had a nice break with my family and come back ready to go again. I want to have a better season than the last one. Over the last few years every summer I wasn’t too sure what was going to be happening, whether I would be leaving and going somewhere else. So it’s great to have a summer just to enjoy it and not worry about anything.”
There will be no easing their way into the campaign for Sinclair and his team-mates. Celtic will head to Austria for their pre-season warm-up before taking on Linfield in mid-July, the first of three hurdles they will need to safely negotiate if they are to return to the promised land of the Champions League.
Read more: Tom Boyd insists Celtic are entitled to take their ticket allocation in Belfast
This will be all new for Sinclair who signed for Celtic last August but he is relishing the challenge. “I wasn’t here in time for it all last year but there’s the pressure of getting into the Champions League. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. You don’t really have this situation down south but if you can win your last game and get in to the Champions League it will be a great feeling.”
- Celtic Foundation has announced that through the #LionsLegacy campaign £2m has been raised to support projects across the UK and beyond.
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