Tierney a doubt for qualifiers

Dyed-in-the-wool Celtic fan Tierney feels significance of triple Treble tilt more than most because he can’t escape the hype

KIERAN TIERNEY has confirmed himself as a major doubt for Scotland’s Euro 2020 qualifying double-header in June.

He travelled to Kazakhstan with Alex McLeish’s squad last month before admitting defeat in his efforts to overcome a calf issue.

Now Tierney fears his body will not be in the peak condition required to give Scotland his best for the home tie against Cyprus then a big test in Belgium.

That is because the Celtic star requires an extended period of rest to clear up the pelvic problem that has disrupted his season since mid-December.

When quizzed on the timescale for a full recovery, Tierney said: ‘It will be until I get a proper rest. It will take a few weeks of doing nothing to recover the body fully.

‘It is my pubis bone — and

WHILE several of his team-mates can find easy routes to escapism if needed, only NASA would stand a chance of helping Kieran Tierney detach himself from the whirl of hype and excitement over Celtic’s triple Treble chances.

Tierney has no wish to sign up for a space mission, however, so comfortable is he being immersed in 24/7 talk of these titles. He doesn’t have a choice, to be fair, surrounded as he is away from Lennoxtown by Celtic supporters among family and friends.

It’s tempting to ask if he comes to training for a break from the pressures of constant discussion over Celtic being on the brink of yet another unprecedented achievement. However, Tierney stresses that he only embraces a situation which he insists creates no extra pressure for him to deliver.

What would a 21-year-old Celtic fanatic love more than to be the in thick of a race to be crowned Treble winners for a third successive season? Just to confirm that Tierney has yet to lose touch with reality and his roots like many homegrown Old Firm stars before him, the superstar left-back admits he welcomes the bombardment of questions about Celtic’s latest historic quest.

They come from those closest to him. They flood in via the frequently barmy world of social media which he dips into. And only when quizzed relentlessly on the crazy (and untrue) rumour about his injury — that he needed career-saving surgery similar to that undergone by Andy Murray — did he feel worn down by it all.

When asked if he felt more pressure than other Celtic players because of his connection with the

fans he serenades and sits among, Tierney said: ‘It’s hard to say because I don’t know how the rest of them feel about the pressure.

‘But because I know how important it is for the fans, it is a lot — but no more so than the double Treble was. That hadn’t been done before either. Yes. it’s a lot of pressure but it’s nothing new to anyone in our squad. The people in our changing room are amazing at dealing with it.

‘Can they get away from it while I can’t? That’s a big factor, to be fair. When I’m at home, it’s still all Celtic. Everything is Celtic. My dad, my family, my friends. That’s just what it is and that’s how it’s always been.

‘Nothing has changed for me, though. If this was happening when I was younger, I’d have been exactly the same as a wee guy — I’d have been talking about it all the time. So I don’t mind it at all, I’m a Celtic fan. I engage in conversation. You have got to relish it. Here we are at another big game — as they all are for the rest of the season — another massive one to look forward to.’

Dealing with the demands didn’t seem so straightforward for Tierney when he made his breakthrough into the Celtic team under Ronny Deila. His stunning first full season featured semi-final setbacks against Ross County in the League Cup and, far more hurtful to Tierney, a penalty shoot-out exit to then second-tier Rangers in the Scottish Cup.

The so-called Hampden hoodoo was tackled as a priority by Brendan Rodgers, the quick fix of beating Rangers then Aberdeen on the way to the former manager’s first Celtic trophy consigning those concerns to history.

Neil Lennon announced himself as relieved to have carried on the streak of knock-out tournament

successes to 25 games at Easter Road on his return there as Celtic caretaker boss last month.

Now, back at the national stadium against familiar foes Aberdeen, Tierney has no reason to suspect any issues of old will come back to derail a fairly seamless managerial transition in mid-season.

Tierney said: ‘Before Brendan Rodgers, we had Deila and weren’t winning at Hampden. We were maybe unlucky or not good enough on the day. It’s a one-off game and anything can happen.

‘I don’t think we did anything different to tackle games at Hampden when we started winning there. We didn’t change our gameplan going to Hampden from what we did at Celtic Park. ‘What we did away from home was working, too, so we took that into Hampden games and it has worked for us there for the last few seasons. ‘We just hope and trust that what we do on the training pitch these days goes into Hampden as

‘I DON’T MIND IT. I ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION. YOU HAVE GOT TO RELISH IT’

well. There’s no different routines or anything, it was just keep everything the same. ‘The new manager has been in for a while now and we’ve got used to it, it was a smooth transition for everybody. It’s not bothering us, we’re ready to go and buzzing working under Neil Lennon. ‘It’s new for me but people like Broony (Scott Brown) and James (Forrest) have worked for him before and that helped us too. I’ve been playing and training with a smile on my face. It’s good that it has continued. ‘When a new manager comes in you never if you are going to be in his plans. ‘I’ve been lucky enough that he’s shown faith in me and kept playing me as well. He’s been involved in many big occasions, much more than I’ve been in my life, so he knows better than anyone what it takes and what it means to the fans as well.’

Tierney missed out completely, because of an ankle injury, when Aberdeen were soundly defeated 3-0 in the 2016 Betfred Cup final, then exited the William Hill Scottish Cup final in May of that season after 27 minutes with a broken jaw inflicted by Jayden Stockley’s elbow.

In the latest defeat of the Dons at Hampden, he completed the 90 minutes in December as Ryan Christie’s goal separated the sides. Tierney notes that while Aberdeen haven’t managed to bring down Celtic yet with a trophy at stake, they are growing into an ever-more dangerous opponent.

‘It’s going to be really tough and the fans know it’s going to be tough as well,’ said Tierney. ‘They’re not taking anything for granted because they know Aberdeen are a good team and we know we’ve never had an easy game against Aberdeen — no matter what the occasion.

‘They fight for everything, every ball. That’s no surprise for us. But the fans, the players and staff are all in together and we all want the same outcome — for Celtic to win.’