Viljami Sinisalo has admitted he was shocked to temporarily lose his place in goal at Celtic, but the Finland international insists he is determined to hold onto the No.1 jersey for the remainder of the season.
The 25-year-old was dropped for summer signing Sam Johnstone last month as Celtic won at St Johnstone before suffering a 3-0 defeat at Ibrox. Sinisalo was restored for the Europa League clash with Ferencvaros and has kept his place ever since.
'It was a surprise'
Asked if he was surprised to have been left out, Sinisalo said: "I'll put it bluntly, yeah, it was a surprise but that's ultimately a decision that's been made.
"That's gone now, you can't really focus on it too much. It's down to me in terms of staying in the team and performing in a manner that there isn't a conversation. I don't want there to be a conversation, that's the bottom line."
He added: "I've waited a long time and worked hard and played a lot of games now. Over the last, I want to say, 30 games, I think I played 28 or something like that. Once you get a bit of taste of that, you don't want to let it go."
Close relationship with Johnstone
Despite the battle for the gloves, the former Aston Villa goalkeeper shares a close relationship with on-loan Wolves keeper Johnstone.
"It's funny because I was actually on trial as a 15-year-old when he was the number one at Aston Villa, on loan from Man United at the time. I trained with him when I was 15, before I even signed for Villa," Sinisalo said.
"When I'm playing, he's there supporting me like everyone else is. We're so privileged in a way to be such a tight-knit group as goalies. It's so important it stays that way."
'We both want to play'
Sinisalo is set to start against Benfica on Thursday night and made it clear he has no intention of giving up his spot again.
"If it's me playing, he's supporting me. If it's him playing, I'll be supporting him. It's no different to that. We both want to play. Don't get us wrong. When the other one plays, we understand that we need to support because it's such a difficult position and little things matter," he said.
"We're talking centimetres, whether a goal goes in or whether it doesn't. Any help that you can get from your fellow goalies, the better.
"He's been a top keeper in his own career, playing for England and top level in the Premier League as well. He's a good guy. Absolutely. He's still a very good goalie.
"I'm talking of a goalie that only last season played in the Premier League. I want to stay in the team. It's no different to that. That's the main message."
