Auston Trusty insists a crack at European football royalty in Real Madrid or Bayern Munich is a dream draw for Celtic.
But the Hoops defender is adamant the Parkhead men are not in the knockout stages to make up the numbers. Celtic will learn their play-off round rivals after today’s draw but they could not have landed a tougher task having been paired with two sides who have won an incredible 21 Champions League or European Cups between them.
Trusty, however, insisted the Hoops will show no fear. He said: “I back this team no matter what and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Are these the kind of games I signed up for? Yes, absolutely. Those big moments, that’s what you want to play in. It’s what you dream of. But we are going into these games to compete – absolutely. That’s the answer. I don’t think anybody is going there just to have fun. You’re going there to win a game.”
Trusty was disappointed to sign off the group stage with defeat at Aston Villa. But he insisted it was a campaign where Celts made huge strides and proved they can recover from adversity – such as the 7-1 bashing by Borussia Dortmund earlier in the second.
Trusty said: “I’m enjoying the competition. I think to play at the highest stage in club football is a dream come true, but also as a player when you get a chance to back yourself and show that you can compete at this level and no one can really take that away from you, it’s the greatest feeling.
“No matter what, no one can say anything because you’re playing at the highest level against the best teams, against the best players in the world. When you perform well and do well as a team, individually and collectively, it’s a great feeling. Does it make you a better player? Absolutely, absolutely.
“I played at Villa Park last year, I played against the top teams in the Premier League, so at the end of the day, when you play at that level, game in, game out, everyone’s human at the end of the day, they’re football players and so am I. We all train the same, we all have the same mindset, so at the end of the day, it’s just whoever wants it more is for the day, but everyone can compete.
“The challenges we’ve had this year and even the Dortmund game, you can see how we’ve backed ourselves up from that game. So when we have moments that don’t necessarily go our way, I think we have a good backbone on this team that can bounce back.”
Adam Idah plundered a double in Birmingham to end bis barren spell – and Trusty is convinced the striker is ready to go on the rampage again. He said: “Hopefully he builds confidence and keeps going on from there. He’s an excellent forward for us.
“We have lots of guys who can step up, it’s not like filling shoes, it’s just one person’s in, one person’s out, and it’s a testament to the organisation for having players, where it’s not really a drop-off, whoever’s starting, whoever can play in any position and help the team out. Hopefully this is the start of his next hot streak, I’m sure he saw that last season as well. Hopefully, I hope to see more goals.”