Celtic's Jota says long injury lay-off made him stronger
The Portuguese winger, back after cruciate ligament damage, says there is no need to rush his return to full fitness.
Celtic Park. File photo. · Photograph: Thomas Nugent (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Celtic winger Jota says his long injury absence has made him a stronger person, and he is in no rush to get back to full match fitness.
The 27-year-old damaged his cruciate ligament in April 2025. He made his first-team return in the 2-0 win at Motherwell and came off the bench again in Sunday's 7-1 win over Hearts at Celtic Park.
Jota said he went through dark moments during his recovery but learned a lot from the experience and now values things he may have taken for granted before.
He is not in Celtic's Europa League squad, so his game time will be limited to domestic matches for now. Martin O'Neill's side host Celta Vigo in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Jota said his aim was always to come back fully fit, however long that took, as he still has a long career ahead of him.