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Sport / Football

Celtic signing Aleksander Tonev claims Lambert didn’t give him a chance at Aston Villa

By Reporter
September 14, 2014, 9:00 am Updated: December 8, 2015, 5:41 pm
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Aleksander Tonev is hopeful he can enjoy better fortunes at Celtic than he had at Aston Villa.

Aleksander Tonev insists Paul Lambert didn’t give him a chance to showcase his talents at Aston Villa.

But the Bulgarian playmaker is determined to make up for his lost year in the English Premier League by shining for Celtic.

The Parkhead club just missed out on the 24-year-old’s signature last summer when he opted for Villa ahead of the offer to join the Scottish champions.

Tonev, who has signed on a one-year loan deal with a view to a permanent switch, clearly doesn’t look back on his time at the Midlands club with fond memories, although he is confident the move to Celtic will work out for him.

He said: “Injury didn’t affect my chances at Villa. I was ready to play. I just didn’t get a chance to show what I’m capable of. I’m not sure if I want to go back to Villa. I’ve got the skills to play for Villa, I just never got the chance.

“That’s why I told the manager I wanted to go. I want to play. I didn’t get any chances to play for Villa for over a year. The talks were manager to manager. But, when I first heard about the chance to come to Celtic, I took it immediately.

“I knew everything about the club. I know it’s one of the best teams in Europe. That’s why I wanted to come here and didn’t want to stay at Villa. I just wanted to come here and play for Celtic.”

Lambert believes Tonev possesses the qualities required to enjoy a successful career but has cast doubts over his desire to fulfil his promise.

The Villa boss was left infuriated when the player failed to arrange his visa to travel to America on the club’s pre-season tour in July and missed the trip.

Tonev managed six starts and 11 appearances as a sub for Villa and, despite arriving at Parkhead with a groin injury, Tonev is fit and ready to make an impact at Celtic.

Ronny Deila will consider starting him on Thursday night when the Hoops travel to take on Salzburg to kick-off their Europa League campaign.

And Tonev said: “I’m fit now but just for one half. I will hopefully be ready for a full game and to play the 90 minutes this week. I will maybe have a chance of playing against Salzburg.

“I think the group in the Europa League is quite tough but we are a young team and, hopefully, we will finish top of the group.

“I’ve played in Europe with both a Bulgarian and a Polish team. So I’ve got experience of playing in Europe. I’ve faced many big teams from Holland, Turkey and big Polish teams as well.

“My injury problems started three months ago. It’s the groin, on both sides. First of all I needed some rest and then I started training. The injury happened before the end of last season.

“I can do really well as long as I’m ready and fit to play. I think this is a good chance for me and I’m ready to do anything. I’m here to help the team and hopefully I will.”