AFTER being injured inside the opening five minutes of last week’s UEFA Europa League play-off against FK Sarajevo, Nir Bitton is now intent on getting back to fitness and playing his part in Celtic’s latest European journey.

Drawn against AC Milan, Sparta Prague and Lille in Group H of the competition, the Hoops will lock horns with some fierce competition and the 28-year-old Israeli internationalist knows Celtic fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The Celtic support are always excited and they’re thirsty for European football,” said Bitton in an exclusive interview with this week’s Celtic View, on sale tomorrow. “These are difficult times overall, and no one expected 2020 to be as crazy as it has been.

“First of all, we need to make sure that everyone stays safe, that’s the main issue. All of us have families, be that players, staff, fans, all of us. We have grandmothers, grandfathers, and we don’t want to put anyone at unnecessary risk.

“For us, our job is as simple as ever - we must go out and play, we must win games, we must do as much as we can to make the fans proud, wherever they’re watching us in the world. Whenever they come back, we’ll be happy, but until then, we need to keep going.”

He added: “The big European nights at Celtic Park, that’s the nights where you want to play. Those are the nights when you really feel the crowd, you really feel the power of this club, and for the players who signed this summer, unfortunately, it’s different for them and they’ve been made to wait.

“Again, nobody expected us to be playing with no fans at this point in the season, but having qualified for the Europa League, we hope that at some point soon we can get fans back in to savour those atmospheric nights again.”

To read the full interview with Nir Bitton, pick up the latest issue of the Celtic View.

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Celtic View Exclusive: Bitton can’t wait for Euro nights at Paradise