Matt O’Riley spoke to the media today, including The Celtic Star representing the Celtic Fan Media and we asked him about the probably Champions League group stage participation helping his chances of making the World Cup with Denmark and also about the importance of Joe Hart to this Celtic side on the cusp of wrapping up the title and winning that automatic qualification to the Champions League.
Matt wonder goal against St Johnstone last month – the one single goal scored this season that encapsulates exactly what Angeaball is all about – was today awarded the Goal of the Month award for April and Matt in recognising the achievement thanked all his teammates for their part in the 40 odd passes that led up to his power shot.
⚽️ @mattoriley8 picked up the cinch Premiership Goal of the Month award for April and has turned his thoughts towards his personal goal.🍀
💬 “We’re just going to try to keep improving game-by-game.”
More from the #cinchPrem Goal of the Month winner below ⤵️
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 6, 2022
Asked about how this title would compare to previous honours in the game, he said he’d never actually won anything before as a professional footballer so this is his first. You get the feeling it won’t be his last though.
Here’s what happened earlier this afternoon…
Q: First of all, start with your goal of the month award. That must be nice when you get recognised for these things…
Matt O’Riley: “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I think I only touched the ball a couple of times in the build-up to that goal so I have to say thank you to most of my team for that one because there were a lot of passes before the final shot. But it’s pretty cool to win it, so I’m happy about that.”
Q: When you look at this weekend, is it just a case of looking at what’s in front of you and not thinking of all the implications of what could happen?
Matt O’Riley: “I think so. I think we approach it like any other game, I know it sounds pretty cliche, but that’s all we can really control at the end of the day. That’s what we’ve been doing for most of the season and we’ll stay doing that for the last remaining games.”
Q: A word on Callum McGregor – he obviously got the Players’ Player of the Year accolade. From the Celtic dressing room point of view, what has he been like throughout the season?
Q: How determined are the squad to make sure that they finish the season with a flourish?
Matt O’Riley: “Yeah, like I said, the approach is still the same. We don’t feel as though we’ve cracked it yet. We don’t feel as though we’re a great team. We still think there’s a lot more we need to do to be at that next level. We’re just going to try keep them improving game by game kind of thing. Hearts is not an easy game either so we’re going to have to approach it with the utmost respect towards them and hopefully we can just take care of business.”
🗣️ “We approach it like any other game – that’s the only thing we can control.”@mattoriley8 speaks to @CelticTV to preview Saturday’s game 💬
Watch now on YouTube ⤵️ #CELROS | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG🍀
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 6, 2022
