HAVING found himself on the bench in Celtic’s recent run of domestic fixtures following the international break, Moi Elyounoussi has shown the exemplary attitude his manager is looking for in his squad.

The Norwegian internationalist has been working hard every day in training, waiting for the opportunity to impress and stake a claim for a place in the starting XI, and he did his chances no harm with a decisive intervention in Latvia on Thursday night.

Replacing Odsonne Edouard with eight minutes of the match remaining, the 26-year-old grabbed the all-important goal in the last minute of the game to give Celtic a 1-0 win over Riga FC and, most importantly, a place in the Europa League play-off round, where they will face an away tie against Bosnian side, FK Sarajevo, next week.

Elyounoussi’s first-time finish from fellow substititute, Jeremie Frimpong’s cross, was no more than Celtic deserved from the game, and the goalscorer was delighted to play his part in the victory.

“I’m pleased to help the team win the game,” he said after the game. “That’s what you want as a forward, to create chances and score goals, especially when you’re sitting on the bench watching the game.

“It was a tough game and Riga defended well, so these are the type of games when you want to come on and score.

“Like everyone else, I want to play every game but when you’re not in the starting XI, you just want to contribute in any way that you can and I’m just delighted that I could come in and score the goal.

“Obviously it has been a little bit challenging that I have been left out, but I do see this as a challenge and there are two ways to go – either you go around being frustrated or you pick yourself up, take that as a challenge, train hard and show that you deserve to play.

“These games are really tough because every team is going to try and do everything they can to qualify, and the game against Riga showed that. But it’s all about being patient and we have enough quality, either with the players who started or on the bench, so we need the whole squad. Hopefully, we can score a bit earlier in the next game!”

Elyounoussi delighted to play decisive role in Europa League win