Sinisalo hits up Pukki for Celtic homework as new keeper lifts lid on Ayr spell that has him ready

Troon is bursting at the seams this week as the golfing world has flocked to Ayrshire for The Open. But it was more like a ghost town when Viljami Sinisalo rocked up for his SPFL loan stint at Ayr United a few years ago, writes Michael Gannon in the USA.

The Finland cap checked in at Somerset Park as a teenager during the dark days of Covid, when fans were locked out and shops and bars were dubbed up too. Sinisalo was just a kid from Aston Villa but he is convinced the move was the making of him as a man. The youngster had to fend for himself for the first time, in a foreign country when there was nothing to do amid the constant lockdowns. And that was before he had to cope with a wet and windy Tuesday night at Arbroath.

Sinisalo made an impression on the pitch which helped send him on a path that’s led him to Celtic Park. And it certainly won’t be as quiet at Parkhead as it was in those days. The 22-year-old – speaking at the So Others Might Eat charity in Washington DC as the Celtic Foundation made a $10,000 donation – said: “Going to Ayr was my first experience in men’s football. I learned so much.

“It’s character building when you go – in Covid – living on my own for the first time ever, since moving to the UK. I learned a lot. Obviously, nothing was open. It was Covid. No fans, no coffee shops. You couldn’t really get out. But it was a great group at Ayr. I still text and speak to a few of them there.

“It builds your character. You get used to playing in different conditions and different things are required of you. I remember my fourth game, we were playing at Arbroath on a Tuesday night and waves were coming over the wall! You kind of experience it straight away. You learn so much from that. Those were the first