Jota explains agony of injury setbacks after emotional return to Celtic action

Celtic attacker Jota is delighted to have returned to the pitch after more than 18 months on the sidelines. The attacker ruptured his ACL in April of last year and has struggled to get back to action due to suffering a number of setbacks.

But after competing in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break, Jota returned to action Sunday, when Celtic beat Motherwell 2-0.

Jota wasn't expected to return until towards the end of this month, but he was cleared to make an appearance off the bench in the Motherwell clash and looked pretty sharp after coming on.

Upon stepping onto the pitch. Jota was greeted with a huge roar from the travelling Hoops fans, and he get a huge reception when he went over to see the fans at the end of the game.

"Very good. Long time no see," he responded on Sky Sports when asked how he felt. "I was waiting on this for a long time. I finally could, and I'm happy.

"The guys have been helping me. I have been expecting this for a long time, so it was the normal nerves. If I can try to explain, imagine if someone has taken away your child, and I got my child back today. That's how I have been feeling for the last year. I just wanted my child back"

Asked if it is now a case of managing his minutes to get back to fitness without any further setbacks, Jota replied: "I would say so. I have been working hard in training. I'm feeling good nowadays, but there is no amount of training that can prepare you, so yeah, just day by day, no expectations. I know what I can do, and I am looking forward to showing it."

Jota has returned earlier than expected, but he will not be able to play in his hometown when Celtic take on Benfica on Thursday night. The Portuguese star was not included in Celtic's Europa League squad due to his injury.

While that might feel like a mistake in some ways, it may actually have been wise, given Jota needs to work his way back slowly, and two games per week is not going to aid that process.

It's also worth keeping in mind that games against the likes of Benfica are going to be played at a much higher intensity than against Motherwell, so it's possible he wouldn't have been able to play in that kind of game this week in any case.