Scott Brown impressed by Albian Ajeti impact at Celtic

Celtic v Livingston – Scottish Premier League – Celtic Park
(Image credit: Andrew Milligan)

Albian Ajeti impressed Celtic captain Scott Brown again with another goal in the 3-0 win over Hibernian at Parkhead.

Midfielder Callum McGregor opened the scoring for the home side before Ajeti doubled the champions’ lead with a close-range finish for his fifth goal in nine appearances since signing from West Ham for £4.5million.

The Switzerland international injured himself in scoring and had to be replaced by Odsonne Edouard, but Mohamed Elyounoussi added a third in the 75th minute to take Neil Lennon’s side to within a point of Premiership leaders Rangers, with a game in hand.

And Brown likes what he has seen so far from Ajeti.

He said: “He’s done really well, he’s strong, he’s physical, he holds the ball up really well. And he’s scoring goals.

“It’s about being in the right spot at the right time and he’s got that.

“He’s got that awareness and we’ve seen it in training. It’s hard for new people to come in here and hit the ground running.

“But he really has, he’s scoring goals and his link-up play was also exceptional.

“It’s just frustrating he’s got injured, especially when he’s just been getting into the groove.

“We’re fortunate we’ve got great players in attack. We’ve got Griff (Leigh Griffiths) ready to come back too and he was on the bench. The squad’s in a good place just now.

“I’m sure Ajeti will want to come back as quickly as possible.”

The Parkhead skipper was also glad to see David Turnbull get more game time following his move from Motherwell.

The 21-year-old midfielder replaced injured Ryan Christie at the interval to make his third substitute appearance for the Hoops and in an assured 45 minutes he set up Elyounoussi for the third goal.

Brown said: “He’s calm, he’s composed on the ball and he sees a forward pass too.

“He’s also got great awareness, so for us it’s great to have another Scottish boy in the team.

“He knows what it’s all about also, winning games for Celtic and how big a club this is.”