Martin O’Neill has played down fears over Kieran Tierney’s fitness after KT was forced off in the Scottish Cup final win over Dunfermline – and with Scotland’s World Cup around the corner, that is very welcome news indeed.
Speaking after Celtic’s 3-1 Hampden victory, O’Neill offered a typically warm and wryly humorous assessment of our left-back’s latest fitness scare. As reported by Celtic News Now, the manager confirmed Tierney is fine and expected to link up with Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad – we’ll take it.
Tierney went down injured shortly after Josh Cooper had pulled one back for Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline, with Marcelo Saracchi introduced in his place for the closing minutes at Hampden. It was the kind of late withdrawal that sends a shiver through every Celtic supporter who’s spent the past few years watching KT battle setback after setback – from recurring injury misery at Arsenal through to a frustrating loan spell at Real Sociedad that limited his game time still further.
O’Neill, though, was in good spirits about it. With that characteristic mix of warmth and deadpan wit, the manager told reporters: “That’s one of the reasons that I would like to stay for next season, so that Kieran completes a game.” He added: “I love him to bits, I think he’s great for it, but honestly, and Shaun [Maloney] keeps coming to me all the time after 55 minutes.” And then, crucially: “But he is fine, he’s done brilliantly since he’s come back – a real pre-season with him will suit him down to the ground. He’s a really fine footballer.”
The Bigger Picture
Here’s the thing – what O’Neill said about a proper pre-season matters more than the substitution itself. KT returning to Lennoxtown this summer with a full, uninterrupted pre-season behind him is the reset this whole comeback has been building toward. The bones of something special are already there; you only have to listen to how his teammates talk about him to know how much his presence lifts the dressing room.
His performances since returning have been colossal at times – O’Neill himself called him that – and with Scotland heading into a World Cup group featuring Haiti, Morocco, and Brazil, Clarke will need KT sharp and available. The manager has handled him carefully in international windows before, and you’d expect nothing different here.
Get him through the World Cup in one piece, build him up properly this summer, and next season could finally be the one where KT runs the full distance. We’re right behind you, big man. Mon The Hoops.
Conor Spence
