Joe Hart has labelled Celtic team-mate Jota as 'phenomenal' and has expressed his delight over his call-up to Portugal's provisional World Cup squad.
National team boss Fernando Santos has named a 55-man pool ahead of the World Cup finals next month with that list to be cut down before jetting out to Qatar. The Hoops key man joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva as he dreams of playing in the biggest tournament in world football.
Celtic No1 Hart doesn't know the ins and outs of the Portuguese talent pool but he was buzzing for his team-mate - who has missed out in recent weeks through injury and will once again sit out tonight as Ange Postecoglou's men welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to Parkhead under the lights in the Champions League.
READ MORE: Celtic vs Shakhtar on TV: Channel, kick-off time and live stream details for Champions League clash
He said: "I don't know enough about the Portuguese national team to comment on where he sits in their rankings or if he should or shouldn't be called up.
"All I know is when he pulls on a Celtic shirt, he's been phenomenal. He gets people on their feet and he's a great teammate. So that news (Jota's call-up), I didn't know that, so I'm really pleased to hear that for him. But I'm sure his focus won't be on the World Cup quite yet."
Celtic must win against Shakhtar Donetsk to keep any hope of playing European football alive after Christmas. A third place finish in the group secures Europa League football.
Hart has hailed the big European nights as 'special' with the Hoops desperate to give something back to the fans for their continued support.
He added: "It's important for the team and the club to be in Europe for as long as we can and we want to make an impression. We want to make a good strong impression and represent the club how we feel it should be.
"But I don't think it's been through any lack of effort or any lack of good intention and as I say that will be no different when we roll out tomorrow night.
"We are one. We've represented as best we can in all of the games and that's been appreciated. We have also been supported superbly.
"We work together and we win and we lose together at the moment. We are winning more than we lose but this competition is very important to this club. The nights are special, they really are, and we want to give back.
"Obviously we want to give back but I think the supporters of this club understand what we are putting in and we are doing our best and we will continue to do that."
READ NEXT:
- Ange Postecoglou's powerful Celtic title speech surfaces as Josip Juranovic quip lands death stare
- Celtic player ratings v Hearts as Giakoumakis and Jenz have contrasting afternoon during VAR chaos
- Ange Postecoglou delivers Celtic penalty stat and sends VAR warning to Premiership managers
- Celtic and Rangers hit with UEFA fines after Champions League fan incidents
- Celtic triumph over Hearts as Forrest continues comeback arc in classic - three things we learned
