Jota admits Celtic have the title on their mind.
And he is adamant he won’t think of anything beyond clinching that trophy for the rest of this term.
The Portuguese celebrated at full-time with his team-mates after his 11th goal of the season secured a priceless win over Ross County.
It was the winger’s first strike in two and a half months and moved his team to the brink of the title.
Celtic need two more wins to make certain and victory over Rangers on Sunday would mean only a mathematical freak with the overturning of an enormous goal difference could deny them.
Jota also created an opening goal for Kyogo Furuhashi in the 2-0 success in Dingwall and although the players have kept the one-game-at-a-time mantra for months, he said: “Of course when you are a Celtic player you have to keep in mind the title, which we do game after game.
“This is a marathon so we keep on doing our thing. There are some really important games to go and now we need to rest before going strong to the other ones.
“It’s been a terrific fight against Rangers. These are the games we want to play and Sunday will be another good fight for sure.
“It was really important for all of us just to get the result in the end. We controlled most of the game.
“For me the main goal is for us to win and for us to keep on our run and to keep with our football. I try to do my game for the team, to provide assists and be a playmaker and that’s what I’m going to keep on doing.
“The team will always be together and we will score and assist the goals.”
As yet, there has been no announcements on Jota’s future with winning the title uppermost in the minds of all at Parkhead.
The on-loan Benfica star said: “Not a chance am I thinking about next season, I am just enjoying day by day.
“It has been a terrific season for me and I am just enjoying getting to know the people around me.
“I am trying to be a better person and a better player and I am being with quality players every day.
“I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to enjoy and give everything for this shirt.
“As a football player you need to keep your mind on the pitch, that’s all that matters.
“Bureaucratic things are for others, please just let me enjoy my football.”
Manager Ange Postecoglou was equally delighted by the work of his late goal hero and also at pains to put the future aside.
He explained: “If anyone thinks we’re thinking of anything other than what happened today, for all of us the most important thing is that we work hard to get a successful year out of this [Jota loan deal].
“Whatever happens beyond that, these conversations, there are two parties and if two parties want the same thing, then it will happen.
“He was good. With him, he had such a great start to the year then he had a significant injury. He’s another player who has just been really unfortunate this year with a disrupted year.
“He’s worked really hard to get back to the form we know he can. He was really good for the team and had a good all round game.
“Just in that final third, he was looking threatening like we know he can be. It was great for him.
“Very few of our boys have had a smooth run this year and they’ve had to overcome difficulties and he’s one of them.”
Postecoglou also hailed Furuhashi after he returned to the starting line-up for the first time since Boxing Day to head the opener.
It was a 17th of the campaign for the Japanese and the boss said: “Again, he’s a quality player and he would be missed at any club. We’ve managed really well without him, but we know he’s got special qualities.
“He’s not 100 percent sharp yet. If he was, he would have probably had two or three.
“Just getting that goal gives him the reward and, hopefully, the motivation to keep going.
“With him and Giako leading the line, we’ve got two strikers who I know have got goals in them and can give us some real cutting edge there.”
Postecoglou was thrilled with the win and said: “I’m really pleased. Everyone knows that this is a difficult venue to come to and that they are a difficult team to play against. They’ve been in great form, but I thought we handled it really well.
“We probably should have been two or three up in the first half. Even our defending I thought was really strong. They are an awkward team to play against, they put the ball in the box and have opportunities from throw-ins and freekicks. We had to handle that as well.
“I thought that we handled the whole process, really.
“You’ve got to do both sides of the game. I thought we defended well. We’ve been on this road for quite a while now and these type of games, we always manage to find a way to get through and we managed to find a way playing our football.”
