Unfazed Bain will be over his horror outing, says Doohan

SCOTT BAIN has been tipped to bounce back from a nightmare competitive international debut in Kazakhstan by Celtic and Scotland Under-21s goalkeeper Ross Doohan.

The current Parkhead No 1 could not be blamed for any of the three goals netted as the Scots slumped to a truly horrific opening-day Euro 2020 defeat on Thursday.

But it was still a night to forget for former Dundee keeper Bain.

Doohan works with Bain at Celtic and has been earning good reviews for his displays this season on loan at Championship shock troops Ayr United.

He kept a clean sheet for Scot Gemmill’s Scotland Under-21 side in a goalless draw against Mexico in Marbella and is now preparing to face Sweden tomorrow in Spain, too.

Doohan is convinced Bain (below) has the mentality to shrug off that woeful loss in the former Soviet nation when he lines up against the minnows of San Marino tonight.

‘Scott’s a great guy, who takes everything in his stride and doesn’t get fazed by anything,’ said Doohan. ‘He’ll bounce back from the game in Kazakhstan when we play San Marino.

‘He’s a top keeper, who has been great with me. I’ve worked closely with him.

‘He’s helped me out a lot. Craig Gordon, Dorus de Vries and Scott have all worked with me in training. If I have wanted to talk to them about anything, they are always there. The three first-team keepers have been terrific with me.

‘Of course, it wasn’t nice seeing your pal lose three goals like that but I am positive he will recover easily.

‘He’s a top keeper and you have seen that when he has been called upon at Celtic. He’s got the call ahead of Craig and, since then, he’s done brilliantly.’

Ayr are still in the play-off hunt in the Championship despite a recent blip in form and the highly-rated Doohan — who signed a four-year contract at Parkhead last year — admits he is enjoying every minute at Somerset Park.

‘It’s my first full season and I’ve played a lot of games for Ayr,’ said the 20-year-old. ‘I feel I have matured a lot and I think I am improving every day.

‘Hopefully, we can keep going well. We’ve had a wee dip but we still believe in ourselves. We need to keep pushing on.’

Doohan is also enjoying the experience of working with Gemmill’s new-look Scotland Under-21s squad, who produced a highly encouraging display against a Mexican team that will be used for their country’s Olympic qualifiers.

He said: ‘It was a good performance and it was a hard-fought draw. We had a game plan and we did that down to a tee. We were compact and we didn’t let them play through us.

‘We worked on our shape. We all know each other, so it was an easy transition playing with everyone. All the boys played well.’