Celtic loanee Erik Sviatchenko lifts lid on pressures of playing for an Old Firm club

Follow us on Google Discover

Celtic’s Danish centre-half is currently playing his football on loan at FC Midtjylland in his native land.

Celtic centre-back Erik Sviatchenko has revealed that two Celtic strikers came to blows after a clean sheet victory, after frustrations that the team should have won by a bigger margin than 1-0, as reported by the Daily Record.

The Dane explained that this is simply the nature if playing for a club as pressured to perform each week as Celtic, with the onus on the team always to go out and destroy any side which they face, regardless of quality.

As it stands, Sviatchenko does not know whether or not he will make it back into the Celtic side when he returns from his loan deal at the end of the season. Given the current centre-half situation at the club, he may well yet have a part to play, however, it remains to be seen whether he is in Brendan Rodgers’ plans.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Sviatchenko explained: “It’s just a different level over in Scotland. Celtic belong to the top 10 football clubs in the world. The pressure is absolutely huge.

“For example, after a league match where we won 1-0, there was a fight in our dressing room. While I was enjoying the fact we had a victory and a clean sheet, two of our strikers fought because we should have won 3-0.

“That shows you the pressure that is always on.”

The 26-year-old went on to discuss the added pressure of the Glasgow derby matches, and dubbed the experience ‘indescribable’, having played in five Celtic-Rangers games during his time as a Celt.

Should Celtic wish to retain Sviatchenko, there is no doubt he would relish the opportunity for more experiences such as that, however, with having fallen out of favour in the earlier stages of the season, he may well be opting for a move south of the border as he looks to achieve his dream of playing in England’s top flight.