Jota shrugs off Celtic planned celebration poser as Rangers fired ominous ‘favourite goal’ warning

Rangers v Celtic – Derby Day Preview

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The finish was sensational. The celebration was iconic. Jota’s Old Firm heroics earlier this season wowed Parkhead punters so much his famous post goal post ended up on the front of T-shirts. The Portuguese ace was delighted to give fans a magical moment but he insists he has plenty more up his cuff.

Jota’s sizzling displays have made him a Hoops favourite but his two goals against their old foes that cracks up the adulation another level. Especially the sublime dinked effort in the 4-0 win in September when he helped rip Rangers to shreds. Jota’s raised fist became the image of the win – but he admitted the celebration wasn’t planned.

He said: “No, it was something in the moment. Really. I’m serious. I’m just grateful for that as it was a really good moment for me. If people can look back on that moment and it brings them a bit of happiness then I’m happy as well. It’s all about the happiness.”

Jota’s goal showreel is pretty impressive but the wide man prefers to look towards the next stunner than admiring strikes in the past. He said: “Is it my favourite? No. My favourite goal is always the last one and the next one, if you know what I mean.

“I don’t have a favourite as it’s always the last one I scored or the next one. “All of then are special in some way of course. Maybe some of them are more important than other ones because some can give you a victory in the last moment or whatever.

“The Bernabeu was certainly a special one and the one at Celtic Park against Rangers was also special because it’s a big game. But every goal is important.”

Jota would love another one today but he will be happy for any of his Hoops teammates to be the hero at Ibrox and he insisted there’s no new celebration up his sleeve. The £6m former Benfica kid said: “No. If it comes it will be in the moment but that’s not what I’m thinking.

“I’m only thinking of the victory of the team. That’s what I want. That’s what we aim for.”

Jota has sparkled at times this season but he has been fairly quiet by his standards since the return from the World Cup break. He was under the weather before the Hibs win but is ready for the Ibrox cauldron. And the man himself doesn’t quite buy the notion it’s tough for wingers to produced the goods every single week.

In fact, the 23-year-old got a bit shirty at the suggestion wide men can have fluctuating form. Jota said: “I don’t agree with this and I don’t know what you mean by form up and down. Are you speaking about numbers, if you are speaking about victories or playing. There are a lot of factors around that question.

“I work every day to be the best version of myself. I know what I do and what I don’t do. So I just work on the things I need to so I can be a better player.

“Every player always has something else to offer. You can never be satisfied with the things you do because I have motivation an ambition to be a better player and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Jota is one of the first names on Ange Postecoglou’s team sheet but the attacker knows his gaffer does have plenty of options if anyone is off the boil. Liel Abada has tortured Gers in previous encounters, Daizen Maeda can be the ideal man to pin down James Tavernier and James Forrest has more than a 100 goals and 100 assists on his CV, while Sead Haksabanovic might injured today but looks a prospects.

The chances are most of them will be involved at various stages at Ibrox but Jota enjoys the fierce fight for starting places at Parkhead. He said: “When you play for Celtic you need to be ready for competition. That’s healthy because this is a big club and it has big expectations so we want the best players as well so we need to fight for our spots.

“It helps everyone because we are a whole. We want to fight for a lot of things so we need everyone at their full capacity so we can win. We are definitely stronger than a year ago because we have had the time to prepare to be better and do what the manager wants us to do.”

They’ve been doing what they’ve been told this term and it’s paid off as Celts sprinted off over the horizon in the league. And now to Ibrox, where victory would open up a 12 point chasm and the Hoops with another title in their sights.

Rangers will provide a different challenge though. They are likely to come out and attack, for starters, but Jota doesn’t see any need for Celtic to change their swashbuckling style. He said: “I guess the numbers and the statistics don’t lie. I know we are in good form but we just need to keep on doing our stuff?

“We don’t stick to their ideas. We stick to our ideas. We will just do our thing. We have our identity and we are going to do the best we can to win the game.

“It’s all about our identity. Of course we have respect for every team in the Scottish Premiership.

“These are the games you want to play in. These are the games you always dreamed of. We’re all very excited about playing it.”

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