Former Finland boss Mixu Paatelainen has admitted the Celtic dressing room might have got to Teemu Pukki during his time at Celtic Park, but insists it would be unfair to say he could not handle the pressure.
Pukki, who joined Celtic from Schalke for a fee in the region of £3m in 2013, struggled to make an impact at Parkhead after netting just nine goals in 38 appearances during his time in Glasgow.
The Finnish striker was eventually shown the door as he moved to Denmark with Brondby before securing a move to the Championship with current leaders Norwich last summer.
Despite struggling to make an impact in Scotland, Pukki has been in spectacular form in England and is the leading goalscorer across all four divisions with 24 goals.
And in the wake of his impressive performances for the Canaries, Pukki has come in for support from Paatelainen, who feels it is unfair to say the striker could not handle the pressure of being at Celtic.
The former Finland boss admitted the strong characters in the dressing room at Parkhead might have affected his confidence during his wretched stint in Glasgow, but stressed he is capable of handling the pressure after representing some big clubs at a young age.
“I don’t think it is fair to say that he couldn’t handle the pressure of being at a big club at Celtic – because he had already been with Schalke and Sevilla, both big clubs with big name players”, Paatelainen told the Herald.
“As far as his personality goes, he is not a strong voice in the dressing room, he does his own business, is a good lad and a model professional.
“But he is not a very strong character who runs the show so going to the Celtic dressing room with very strong characters that might have affected Teemu’s personality and confidence a little bit.”
Paatelainen even went on to claim that Pukki would have scored more goals for Celtic, if he had extended his stay in Parkhead, by insisting that sticky spells are common for any footballer.
“But I am very sure that if he had stayed longer at Celtic, he would have scored goals for them. Sometimes you get that sticky spell.
"For some reason or another, things don’t always run smoothly", he added.
Pukki has earned 69 caps at senior level for Finland since making his debut in 2009.
