I DON’T KIER ABOUT PAST
HAMPDEN PARK, 3PM Tierney knows the Hoops have to constantly push forward
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP FINAL
But for just a couple of hours today, he’ll choose to ignore it.
The Celtic defender and his team-mates head for Hampden looking to extend an astonishing run of domestic success.
Brendan Rodgers’ troops can win a seventh-successive Scottish honour, equalling a landmark set by Walter Smith’s Rangers team of 1994, if they see off Aberdeen this afternoon.
Tierney has savoured every second of the spell but is adamant it’ll get blanked from his memory the moment he arrives at Hampden. As a Celtic player, there’s no time for basking in past glories.
It’s about the next honour, the next success, and keeping the hunger and drive to set new benchmarks.
Tierney said: “It won’t be until we finish playing that we’ll realise what this period has been like.
“But there is still an awful lot for us to achieve here at Celtic.
“It would not be a good thing if I start thinking about what we have done in the past couple of years.
“I choose to look forward, not back. We have won six trophies in a row but that doesn’t matter now. “Going into this final no one cares about the previous six. It’s all about this one now. All about being ready. “That’s how the players have to think and it’s the same with the fans. “We want to win everything we possibly can and this is another great chance for us.” While staying focused and staring forward is important, there is no doubt Celtic’s recent Hampden record is a huge factor. Rodgers (inset) has won on all eight of his visits to the stadium – with the Dons falling victim twice.
Tierney copped an elbow in the face from Jayden Stockley the last time he took on the Dons at Hampden but relishes his trips across Glasgow.
He said: “When you go to Hampden, you know that you are there for a big occasion.
“It’s a game I’m looking forward to.
“Having my face smashed (in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final) would be low down on the list of best Hampden moments yet the end of that day was something special as we won the Treble.
“I’d say that was my best memory at the stadium. You feel that wherever you go, you must have the confidence to play and that is what the manager has built into us.
“He wants us to perform anywhere and Hampden is another big pitch.
“It suits the way we play and we’ve had great results there in the past but we’ll take nothing for granted.
“It is going to be tough against Aberdeen as they always make it a hard game.
“We won 1-0 at Celtic Park last time we met and they beat us the time before that – it shows it’s not going to be easy.
“No one takes Aberdeen lightly.”