KRISTOFFER AJER has faith Celtic will finally hit their mark when they travels to his homeland in the pursuit of Champions League progression next week.
Thrust in for only his second appearance in a Celtic shirt - and his first for over a year - a man-of-the-match performance from the young Norwegian centre-half was overshadowed by Celtic's lack of penetration against a stubborn Rosenborg outfit.
Without Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele the Parkhead club struggled to create much in the way of clear-cut chances as their stuffy visitors held on for a 0-0 draw in this Champions League third round qualifier first leg.
However, despite goalkeeper Andre Hansen being a spectator for large parts in Glasgow, Ajer is confident he will be picking the ball out of his net in Wednesday's return leg.
He said: “It wasn’t a problem. We found the spaces well but we we didn’t manage to take our chances in or outside the box.
“Obviously with Moussa and Leigh out the gaffer changed the system but I think everything worked out quite well.
“W always go in to games trying to score. We will have to defend well in Trondheim as well but hopefully we will do that.
“I played striker a bit when I was young but centre half is my position now!”
It is an arena the strapping teenager has some experience of scoring at. Indeed, back in April 2015 he netted a fine strike against Rosenborg for IK Start in a 3-2 defeat.
While Ajer isn't touting himself to fill the void up front if Griffiths is not fit for the return, there was enough displayed during a frustrating night in Glasgow to suggest to him progression is still firmly on the cards for Brendan Rodgers' team.
“I have played in Trondheim before. It’s a good atmosphere and a nice pitch. We’re looking forward to it," said Ajer.
“Rosenborg are a big team in Norway. I lost last time but I managed to score, so we will see how it goes next week.
“It’s difficult to say how they will play. In Norway are used to having the ball a lot but we will see how they approach it tactically when it’s a different opponent and just one game to go through."
Speaking about his own performance, he added: "We found out the team yesterday. I had some time to prepare then.
"There has been good communication with the gaffer. You know, you can prepare as much as you want but when you come out here you feel it is a big thing. It was good for me to come out with a clean sheet and good for the team as well.
"The manager told me to keep it simple. He knew it was probably the biggest game I have played in my career, so it was about defending first and foremost.
"It was important to stay in control in the situations. I felt it went okay."
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