It was only a pre-season friendly in the middle of nowhere but Kieran Tierney will never forget Celtic’s clash with BW Linz.
The defender was named as a substitute which in reality meant that he’d be in the B team to be introduced at half-time.
It’s all about fitness is the theme around these games but there was something different about this match for the Wishaw bhoy.
“It was only a friendly, but I wore it with honour and pride,” Tierney told the Sunday Post about his first experience as captain. “It’s the first time and it was so special.
“It was John Kennedy who told me. We were playing two teams, switching over at half-time, so he told me they had a surprise for me. I think the coaches knew how much that would mean to me.”
Tierney added: “To have that honour for the second half was brilliant for me, but I know it’s Broony’s armband. “He deserves it so much because he is honestly the perfect captain.
“If you knew what he was like inside the club, how he treats the young boys and makes everybody feel part of it.
“I look up to him as a player. I always did when I was younger, he was a hero of mine.
“Now I know him. To have that honour for the second half was brilliant for me, but it’s Broony’s armband, he deserves it. I hope he is here for many years as captain.”
Mikael Lustig is the vice captain and is likely to step up to take the armband against Linfield on Friday if Brown fails to shake off an achilles knock.
Tierney was back in training today for Friday’s match in which the hoops set off on the route that will hopefully lead to the group phrase of the Champions League.
If the hoops see off the challenge from the Belfast side they’ll have one more qualifying round before reaching the play-off phase which guarantees European football with the winners going into the Champions League and the runners-up going into the Europa League.