Carl Starfelt relishing Celtic competition for places as he explains his wild goal celebration

Carl Starfelt is back in possession of the shirt .But the Celtic ace is adamant he can’t afford to think for a single second that he’s guaranteed to keep it.

Starfelt has made a triumphant return from a lengthy lay-off to give boss Ange Postecoglou and his team-mates a massive boost. The Swede scored on his comeback against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park after missing over two months with a serious hamstring issue sustained on international duty in June. Starfelt formed a formidable partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers last season which was the rock on which Celtic’s title win was built.

The 27-year-old got his opportunity with new signing Moritz Jenz having to go off during the second period with an injury of his own. Naturally, Starfelt’s return from the treatment room would have most observers believing that the combination with Carter-Vickers is now back to stay. However, the former Rubin Kazan stopper insists it’s not that simple.

As Stephen Welsh and Jenz both made impressive appearances in the opening games with the Scandinavian not yet ready to be involved in the first-team action, the manager has serious competition for the coveted place alongside the American international Starfelt knows he’s in a fight for the starting spot and said: “I think the competition pushes all the players.

“It’s not only the centre-back position. I feel we have competition now in almost every position. It’s about the small details. You also need to show every week in training that you want to play. It pushes everyone.

“We have one game a week just now, but soon it will become two games a week for a period of months. We will need a big squad. Like I said, there is very tough competition. There are really good options in defence. Welsh,