I feel great considering I've not been fully fit since I was about 14

IT has been no pain, no gain for Cameron CarterVickers for as long as he can remember.

- BY MICHAEL GANNON

But the Celtic warrior is ready to grin and bear it again this season as the Hoops set their sights on five-in-a-row.

Carter-Vickers was a late arrival to the pre-season party after going under the knife to sort out a knee issue but returned in Thursday's 5-1 friendly defeat to Ajax and got another run-out against Saudi side Al-Ahli last night.

The surgery has done the job and the centre back is determined to get back to work.

The US star has had his injury struggles over the years but is used to playing through the pain. In fact, he reckons he hasn't been free of any aches since he was a teenager.

Humble hero Carter-Vickers said: "It was nice to be back out there and get some minutes.

"The operation went well at the start of the summer so it's been about recovering from that and coming back strong, getting fit for the games.

"I feel good right now. The surgery I had in the summer kind of sorted out a few things.

"It was relatively straightforward. My right knee was just kind of cleaning up some kind of fragments that had come loose, just cleaning that out and then trying to get the knee to settle back down.

"It was sore. There was a bit of stiffness and pain every now and again. But it wasn't too bad.

"I'm going to have to learn to get on with it now and kind of play with it.