Kristoffer Ajer summed up Celtic’s 2-0 win against Kilmarnock as a great team performance and insisted his Man of the Match award should have been given to his defensive partner Shane Duffy.

Celtic returned to league duties three days on from their 3-2 win over Lille in the Europa League and Neil Lennon’s side picked up from where they left off in midweek as they swept aside Kilmarnock with another strong display.

The visitor’s goalmouth was bombarded with chances in the first half, but Alex Dyer’s team managed to go in at half-time without conceding. That changed after the break as Celtic started the second half in fine form.

Mohamed Elyounoussi opened the scoring early on and Shane Duffy doubled the lead in the 70th minute. Celtic created numerous other chances and Kilmarnock were fortunate only to have conceded two of them.

Speaking to the media after the game, Ajer credited the team for continuing their impressive performance from midweek and said everyone in the team fulfilled their duty admirably.

'It was important for us to build on Thursday night’s performance and I think we really did that.'

“We defended well, they didn’t create any chances and offensively we looked dangerous, so it was a great team performance.”

Neil Lennon set the team up in a 3-4-2-1 style of formation with Greg Taylor and Jeremie Frimpong taking up the wide positions in midfield. That meant Ajer was positioned out on the right side of a three-man defence and he impressed with his work in attack and defence.

Ajer was deservedly awarded Man of the Match after the game but he was quick to redirect credit to Duffy who also weighed in with an excellent performance.

“It’s a lot of running playing in that position so it’s something to get used to,” said the 22-year-old. “It was a good team performance and I’m happy with my own performance but I think Shane Duffy deserved Man of the Match. He’s been through a lot, but the way he’s been in the dressing room and how he performed in the game was amazing and I’m so delighted for him.”

Celtic will now turn their full attention to this Sunday’s Scottish Cup final against Hearts at Hampden and Ajer is confident he and the team can bring more success to the club.

“It’s been a few great years and to hopefully win a 12th consecutive trophy is not bad,” he said. “We’re really excited and looking forward to the game now.”

Kristoffer Ajer praises Shane Duffy's performance against Kilmarnock