Tierney on living the Bhoyhood dream

Kieran Tierney says he is still coming to terms with his dream becoming a reality at Celtic this season.

For fans sat in the stands the dream is to play for Celtic and walk out to the thousands at Paradise and hear them sign your name, but for Tierney that is a reality.

The 18-year-old made his 20th appearance of the season on Friday against Hamilton and has frozen Emilio Izaguirre out of the side since the sides met at Paradise in January.

Tierney’s continued hard work and dedication on the training pitch and in the gym has paid dividends on the field as he is now able to play two or even three games a week.

Speaking to Celtic’s official website, he said:

Every young boy’s dream is to play first-team football and I’ve been playing for weeks on weeks now so hopefully it continues. You’re playing with Celtic and it’s a dream so I still get a bit nervous before games but it’s nothing bad.

I think it has come ahead of what everyone thought. At the start of the season I don’t think anyone would have thought I would have played 20 odd games.

I don’t know when I’ll ever feel like that (first-team regular). Just now I still feel like a young boy. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It means I still need to work hard in training and work my hardest to get picked at the weekend.

I’ve played seven 90 minutes in a row now so I’m delighted with that. At the start of the season I was getting to 70, 75 minutes and I was having to come off because I was tired, but I’m getting used to it.

The level of Tierney’s performances will most likely see him lift the Young Player of the Year award for both the club and the league, highlighting what a successful season he’s had.

Looking ahead to the fixture against Dundee the left-back is fully focussed on maintaining a gap between them and their nearest challengers Aberdeen, who travel to Dundee United on Wednesday.

Despite Celtic scoring 10 goals and conceding just once against the Dees, Tierney is preparing for every scenario and knows they will set up to defend and frustrate the team and the crowd.

Dundee will be a tough team to beat. They’ll come prepared and they’re a good, organised team so they’ll be hard to break down. They have a few dangers up front and on the right wing as well. If I’m playing left-back then I’ll have a lot to do.

Ronny Deila’s side will hope to maintain their six point advantage over Aberdeen with nothing less than three points expected.