Kris Ajer has explained the role that Lee McCulloch has played in his development.
A year ago the untried teenager went on loan to Kilmarnock with most Celtic fans now wanting the teenager to be given a run of matches alongside Marvin Compper.
Ajer never managed a competitive game for Celtic last season but was dropped in at the deep end of a relegation fight at Rugby Park.
Lee Clark took the defender on loan but once McCulloch took over Ajer put in extra training sessions with Celtic, and Norway, set to reap the rewards.
“It was important for me to play senior football and Kilmarnock was fantastic,” Ajer told The Sun.
“The staff, the fans, the players, everyone wanted to help me improve and I only have positive things to say about Kilmarnock from when I was there.
“I felt we performed well and the fans seemed happy when I was there. It was just a change in the manager that happened, but I didn’t have any problems with that.
“I worked under different managers there who helped me a lot. It was all positive but Lee was really, really good for me. We would do extra training after each session with him and Peter Leven.
“They would help me a lot with my positioning and defending clearances. It was really helpful.
“Lee put pressure on me as well. He wanted me to perform in each game and he said I had an important role.
“That was really important to me, that he put faith in me. I had to perform and I think I did that.”
Ajer made half a dozen appearances before enjoying a run of four successive matches following Celtic’s 4-0 defeat away to Hearts.
That form looks like earning him his first full cap for Norway with Lars Lagerback keeping a close eye on his development.
Norway failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Russia but Ajer looks like getting the opportunity to become a regular in the Euro 2020 campaign.