Win can be a platform for fine run

THE last time Celtic played in Russia was one of the highlights of my career because it was a night when history was made.

In October 2012, we beat Spartak Moscow 3-2 to finally record the club’s first-ever win away from home in the Champions League group stage.

But I came perilously close to not starting the momentous match. When we checked into our hotel, the manager Neil Lennon phoned my room and summoned me to a meeting. I remember being worried and wondering: ‘What have I done now?’ When I got to his room, he told me he was going with someone else in right midfield against Spartak and that meant I was benched.

I bit my tongue, but when Neil asked me how I felt I just told him honestly: ‘I’m devastated, I’m gutted, I’m fuming. I’ve no idea why I am on the bench and I’m desperate to play.’

Neil sat back in his chair and said: ‘Right, I will start you — but

do not let me down.’ In the game, I ended up playing almost as a right-back. Mikael Lustig helped me out a lot, reinforcing that the defensive side of things needed to be spot on. That we were a unit, a team; not a group of individuals.

Thankfully for us, Gary Hooper scored a memorable finish to put us ahead. Spartak scored twice but then had a man sent off before James Forrest got us level with a deflected strike.

When the Greek God Georgios Samaras headed a late winner, I was dead close to him and I remember jumping on his back and screaming: ‘Yeeees!’. It had taken Celtic 19 attempts to win on the road in the Champions League group stage and being part of that historic winning team was a magical feeling. There was such a sense of relief that we had finally done it.

It was a performance that gave us confidence in Europe. It gave us a platform. We now knew we could do something in the competition. That was the season we beat Barcelona at Celtic Park and clinched the fairytale by qualifying for the knock-outs by finishing second in the group.

But while Lennon had issues of team selection that required him calling me to his room, Celtic’s current injury crisis means Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have as many options to keep him awake at night. The big dilemma for Rodgers is how to approach the game tomorrow night.

How do you go and play in Russia when you are 1-0 up from the first leg? Do you play a defensive game and try and hit on the counter attack, possibly with Scott Sinclair coming back into the team to utilise his pace and his direct style of play?

Or does Rodgers look at how well his team did last Thursday night in Glasgow and try to use the same high press?

Knowing him, I think he may press Zenit high again and try to get at them. The Russians might not expect that and they were certainly quite uncomfortable when it happened at Celtic Park.

My only concern is that when you are away from home in Europe, you are in trouble if you are even a fraction of a second off it.

Celtic went for goals over in Astana and went 4-1 down. In Munich, they went 3-0 down but it could have been six or seven. Under Rodgers, they’ve lost seven goals away to Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. And when they went toe-to-toe with Man City at Celtic Park, it was 3-3.

It’s all right going for goals but Celtic need to be defensively disciplined. Before the first leg, Rodgers reinforced the need for his centre-backs to maintain their concentration.

But if that was the case at Celtic Park, it will be even more necessary out in Russia where they will be in a very hostile atmosphere with few away fans.

I remember before European matches, Lennon always used to repeat: ‘Don’t ball-watch’ and ‘never let your man get in behind you.’

And when I was defending — especially that night away to Spartak Moscow and at home against Barcelona — I was left thinking: ‘There’s no way I’m going to be the guy who makes the mistake that lets the team down.’ It was that dogged defending that gave us a platform to succeed in Moscow.

Football at the top level in Europe is like a game of chess. I hope tomorrow it is Celtic who get their opponents in check-mate.

And as I know from 2012, a famous win in Russia can take a team on a fine European adventure.