Copyright scotsman
Sebastian Tounekti has gone through a lot already during his first two months as a Celtic player. The 23-year-old winger signed on transfer deadline day in September for a fee in excess of £5 million from Swedish side Hammarby. Since then, his manager has changed, he has won an Old Firm match, reached a final, experienced fan unrest and also qualified for next summer’s World Cup with his nation Tunisia. Life at Celtic comes at you fast. Tounekti has impressed supporters with his pace down the left flank as he tries to settle into a new club and a new country. The change has undoubtedly been made harder by the departure of Brendan Rodgers and disharmony seeping down from the stands onto the pitch. Celtic go into Sunday afternoon’s match with Kilmarnock nine points behind Premiership leaders Hearts. There is little margin for error when Stuart Kettlewell’s men visit Parkhead, with the hosts needing to swiftly get over a midweek 3-1 defeat by Midtjylland in the Europa League. It could also be caretaker boss Martin O’Neill’s final match in charge of Celtic. There is an expectation that the board may accelerate on plans to land Rodgers’ permanent successor during the upcoming international break. “It's been positive for me so far,” Tounekti said of his move. “It's always difficult to come to a new club, especially a club like Celtic - so big. But it's been positive as I've developed and I'm learning every day. Hopefully I'll take more and more steps. “It's always nice to get that bond with the fans. I'm a player who gets that bond more easily because of my playing style. The support has been really amazing and I want to give something back because I think I've got more to give.” Tounekti netted his first goal at Celtic Park in O’Neill’s first match, a 4-0 win over Falkirk on October 29. "It was a really amazing feeling - one of the best feelings I ever had,” said the Tunisian. "It was really special to get my first goal at Celtic Park. It's something I was looking forward to. Hopefully I'll keep doing that because it was an amazing feeling. "The [Falkirk] game was really good on every level. The intensity was good and we scored many goals with good relationships through the players. We have to keep that going. It's going to be a hard game on Sunday against a physical team. We want to go out on Sunday and bounce back from the result on Thursday. We want to win the game.” Tounekti could easily hide behind the change of management, although he is quick to point out some of the positive changes both O’Neill and his assistant Shaun Maloney have brought to the team. Maloney played as a left winger during his playing career and has been giving pointers to the current wide man. "It's been difficult for everyone,” admitted Tounekti. “Brendan was a great coach and he did really well here. As a player, you just have to keep moving forward. It's the business we are in. Everything can happen. We had a game two days later and it was difficult. Now we just have to look forward.” On O'Neill, he continued: “From the first day, he gave us motivation and the courage to believe we are a great team with great players. He has been motivating us a lot. He's been really great. “You can see the history he has. He knows so much about the game. He speaks with individual players so well. We have spoken a little bit but the main thing is speaking with the group and get us together on how we want to play. “I have also spoken a lot with Shaun Maloney as he played in my position. I got some great tips from both of them and I will learn and develop and bring it into my game.” While defeat in Denmark was painful, it came on the back of last weekend’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Rangers at Hampden. “It was maybe the biggest game in my life,” said Tounekti. “To win that game was really amazing. It was unbelievable to see the support of the fans through the game. It was a really cool game to play in.” The likelihood is that Tounekti won’t be involved in the next Old Firm clash. Scheduled for January 3 at Celtic Park, the winger will be away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Tunisia, who are one of the favourites for the competition and will be keen to put down a marker ahead of next summer’s World Cup. “The tournament starts in December, the end of the month,” said Tounekti. “I'm not sure what will happen. We will see. I have to do well here because the team there is really good. The only focus is here at Celtic as we have so many games. “We have the Europa League, the cup final and the league. Personally, it could be a big year. As a team here, we have to stick together. We have so many important games. I just take it game by game and hopefully we can keep up a winning streak here. “When you play for Celtic, you want to win and you have to win every game. It's the standard. Of course, in reality we wanted to be first and to lead the league. Now we are behind and we are chasing. “I still think we will do well. It's early days and there are so many games left. We have to keep going and keep fighting. I'm sure we will end up doing well this season.”
