Young St Johnstone defender Aaron Comrie is looking forward to locking horns again with his old Parkhead youth team-mate Kieran Tierney.
Comrie’s first start for Saints was at Celtic Park when Tommy Wright doubled up his full-backs on the right-hand side to combat the threat of rising star Tierney and last season’s player of the year, Scott Sinclair.
It worked on that occasion, as the Perth men secured a point and the McDiarmid Park defender is hoping for the same result, if not better, in the re-match on home turf this weekend.
“I’m good friends with Kieran and texted him the other night when it came out that he’d signed his new contract,” said Comrie.
“He was already on a five-year one and now it’s up to six so he must be doing something right.
“He’s one of Celtic’s best players already and hasn’t looked back since he got his chance.
“Kieran was always one of the hardest working players when we were growing up, his mentality was always the thing that stood out.
“He really applies himself to everything he does and you can see that in his performances for Celtic.
“Who knows what the future will hold for him but he’s a massive Celtic fan so all he’ll be thinking about is playing in the Champions League with them.”
He added: “Celtic have been superb since Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club and they will be looking to keep their unbeaten run going.
“Although we have not been getting results the performances have got better.
“We conceded a lot of goals but we have managed to plug that and now we just have to improve in the final third.
“Everyone in the dressing-room is confident thing will start changing for us, we have the experience there to do that.
“St Johnstone was the last club to beat Celtic – even though it was a long time ago now – so we will go into this weekend’s game looking to do it again.”
Not many young footballers progress at Celtic like Tierney and Comrie’s story of being released then forging a career elsewhere is a more common one.
“Celtic let me go after a year with the under-17s but it was probably the best thing that happened to me,” he reflected.
“I was down after it and struggled to get a new club but then I came here and things have worked out really well.
“At Celtic a lot of boys are there and struggle to break in but I’ve gone and am now playing first team football.
“The gaffer here has been great. He’s given me my chance.
“I feel like I’m getting better with each game I’m playing, the more experience I get the better I feel on the pitch.
“I’m delighted with the amount of game time I’ve had, it has come out of the blue and I’ve just had to try to take my chance.”
Richard Foster and Comrie are rivals for the right-back position but the senior man has gone out of his way to help the up and coming pro.
Comrie said: “When the manager said he was keeping me in even when Richard came back it was nice to hear.
“Richard has been great since he came to the club and started the season well so it’s a boost to have been playing in front of him.
“He’s been really good with me, he’s passed on plenty of information and tips since he came here and I’ve definitely improved for listening to him.
“Richard, Steven Anderson, Brian Easton and Joe Shaughnesy have all been good to me.”
