Gary Hooper believes that Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Helsingborgs is the biggest game of his career.
Two years ago and fresh from pre-season training with Scunthorpe Hooper made his Celtic debut in a 3-0 Champions League defeat from Braga.
That night in Portugal was Neil Lennon’s first match as permanent manager with the club almost unrecognisable from the one that limped out of two European competitions before the transfer window had closed.
“Wednesday night is massive,” Hooper admitted.”It’s the biggest game of my career and, I’d say, for most of the boys. We’ve got to rest up well and make sure we are ready.
“If we keep the ball out of our net we are through, but there is no way the job is done yet. No one is thinking like that.
“We had a great result over in Sweden, so we have to play like we normally do at home and don’t change. If we pass the ball like we usually do and counter-attack, we can do it.”
Hooper added: “The Champions League was a big factor in me coming here.
“Playing in the Old Firm games was another thing, but that’s gone now, so playing in the group stage of the Champions League with a big club such as Celtic can’t be beaten.
“Once the Old Firm games were gone, the main thing for this season was getting in to the group stage and we’re just a clean sheet away from doing that.”
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For feck sake, let’s no just block the goal, let’s get out there and score more goals THEN park the bus!