Celtic youths

Young Joe just can’t get enough

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Joe Chalmers Celtic newsIf there is one player at Celtic who genuinely ‘just can’t get enough’ it’s teenage left-back Joe Chalmers.

The ever-present in the u-19 side has been drafted into the first team squad over the last few weeks and was on the bench at home to Rennes and away at Motherwell.

In-between his double dunts the 17-year-old likes nothing more than getting along to support the hoops- usually in the company of his Celtic mad family.

“I’ve been at the club since the age of ten and the last few weeks have been amazing,” he admitted taking a breather after Monday night’s 2-1 win over Manchester City.

“There’s been a lot of games, it’s been non-stop but it’s great to be involved and the time has flown in. I’ve not had a minute to feel tired, everything has happened very quickly and being involved with the first team is fantastic.

“We were on the bus coming home from the game in Manchester (Celtic beat City 4-2) when I got told that some of us might be going with the first team to Rennes. That was a big surprise, it came out of nowhere and now I want to keep involved with the first team.

“When I told my family that I was in the squad for Rennes they were taken aback and delighted- my whole family is crazy about Celtic. They are proud to see me involved with the first team and I want to keep making them happy.

“It helps me that they are local, know what’s going on and can get along to support me whenever they can.

“My dad has had season tickets in the Jock Stein Upper Stand and I was always up there watching matches then I progressed to being a ballboy.

“I remember going to my first game against Rangers, Celtic won a Scottish Cup tie 2-1, Alan Thompson and John Hartson scored and when you see that you want to be involved.

“I’ve been playing in the same side as Marcus Fraser and John Herron for a while, Paul George came in when he was 14 and it’s great to progress together.”

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The last few days have been relatively quiet for Chalmers after the whirlwind of last week.

On Thursday night he was on the bench for the Rennes match, on Friday he played for the u-19’s against Aberdeen, on Sunday it was back to the bench against Motherwell rounded off by the Next Gen Series win over Manchester City.

Tomorrow at Lennoxtown Celtic begin their defence of the SFA Youth Cup against Kilmarnock and following back to back wins over Manchester City either side of a 5-1 win over Kilmarnock confidence is high amongst the youth squad.

“We never reached the heights we showed down in Manchester but it was still a good performance,” Chalmers added looking back at the 2-1 home win over City. “Everyone played well, we deserved to win and we’re pleased with the three points.

“We’ve learned a lot from playing against different styles of play in the Next Gen Series, you learn playing against these sides and still have a chance of going through in the group.

“Before the first match against Manchester City our coaches gave us confidence that we could go down and get a result and we managed that. In the home match we showed how we can play and feel that we are a match for anyone.

“Our next game is away to Barcelona and we’re not going there to make up the numbers. We’ll have our game plan and want to go over there and win.

“We felt that we matched Barcelona well in the home match, we pressed then high up the park but lost a couple of poor goals. Their third goal killed the game but we’ve taken a lot from that match to want to prove that when we go to Barcelona.”

Tomorrow’s match against Kilmarnock kicks off at 1pm at Lennoxtown, you can follow the action on twitter.

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