Celtic winger Jota is confident he can recapture his best form after finally making his long-awaited comeback from a serious knee injury.
The Portuguese star had been out of action for 18 months after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a match against Dundee United at Tannadice in April 2025.
After missing all of last season, Jota has returned to action over the past week in the victories over Motherwell and Hearts.
Coming off the bench in the 7-1 thrashing of Hearts yesterday, he entertained the fans with a few moments of sublime skill in the second half as Celtic ran riot.
Opening up on his injury hell for the first time, the 27-year-old admitted he had to overcome personal ‘demons’ during such a long lay-off.
But Jota feels the best may yet be to come in a Celtic jersey – and is confident he will eventually be better and stronger than ever before once he regains full fitness.
Jota was thrilled to be playing at Celtic Park for the first time since his injury 18 months ago
The winger entertained fans with some sublime moments of skill in the 7-1 thrashing of Hearts
Jota has had demons to overcome since suffering an ACL injury at Tannadice in April 2025
Asked about getting back to his top level, he said: ‘Yeah, definitely. Otherwise, if I didn’t have that aim, I wouldn’t be helpful for Celtic if I was happy with the things I did before. I want to improve and be better.
‘I’m very positive that good things will come. I’m accepting the present and how things are going and I’m trusting the process.
‘There’s no lost time because, in the end, I grew a lot. I didn’t lose. I actually gained because, inside, I’m way stronger now. So it will help me definitely.
‘The happiest thing in life for me is to play football. I couldn’t do that in the last year. So right now, every time I step on the pitch, it means so much.
‘Just the passion for football, I think that’s my compass. I could clearly see that during the months I was away. My love for football is immense.
‘I could prove that because maybe someone else wouldn’t want to come back because of the struggle or like some guys just don’t have that.
‘I think that was my fuel to keep on working every day, to be healthy and fit, even if things weren’t going that way.
‘There’s a solution for everything. You just need to accept the present and keep on believing that good things will come.’
Jota was given a standing ovation against Hearts as Celtic delivered their best performance of the season in an emphatic win.
He is not registered in the Europa League squad so will be unable to play in Thursday’s clash with Celta Vigo at Parkhead. But he thanked the fans for their support during his period out of action and is confident it is only a matter of time until he is fit enough to play from the start.
‘It was incredible,’ he added. ‘Playing at Celtic Park again was a moment I was expecting for months.
‘I think no better day to do it than with a good result, a good performance and just in front of our fans. It was a happy day.
‘My love for the Celtic fans is like a reciprocal relationship. We’ve built on this for a long time and the love I received from them is also because of the things we achieved.
‘I just want to guarantee that I will keep on trying to do everything that I can to help the team and to give joy and happiness to the fans whenever they come.
‘In terms of me starting games, there’s obviously metrics involved. We need to be clever obviously because I didn’t play for a long time and we don’t want to make any mistakes.
‘So I think we’re in a comfortable situation when everyone realises what needs to be done for me to grow up and to feel better and healthier. Yeah, just trusting the process.’
