Celtic winger Jota admits he felt "empty" during his 18 month injury lay-off and can't wait to "give a smile" to the club's supporters again.

Jota, who re-joined Celtic in January of this year, was a second half substitute in last weekend's 2-0 win at Motherwell having not featured for the club since April 2025.

The 27-year-old suffered a serious ACL injury at Tannadice in April last year but doesn't remember much of that day.

"It's blurred," the winger told CelticTV about the day of the injury.

"I don't know whether it's a mental or psychological response to erase that day.

"The hardest part is that there is a part of yourself that goes away and you never know when it's going to come back.

"We grew up with this feeling that football is just granted for us, once it goes away you feel empty. It's still a long process once you start training but every day you get one per cent better and that's enough for you to go home and sleep well."

He returned to the pitch for the first time in 533 days at Fir Park last weekend, much to the excitement of Celtic supporters in the ground.

"After the game seeing some videos and stuff of the fans chanting, it was really nice to see," he added.

"I just want to be the best version of myself, to maximise my potential, go on the pitch and inspire - to give a smile to Celtic fans.

"There's a responsibility of winning titles but I think there's such a stronger feeling to inspire and deliver on the pitch week in week out."